By Jackie Ricks
I’ve never liked noise. All of my life I have avoided vacuum cleaners (thankfully, I have wood and tile floors!), mixers, hair dryers, etc. — anything that makes noise — unless I absolutely have to use it.
Well, today I had to. And it was the ultimate noisemaker — an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). I’ve had several during my life, but this one seemed louder than any other. It was also longer than most and was made even longer by the machine throwing glitches into some of the pictures. However, thank God, I survived!
How? The same as always. I sang hymns to myself, prayed and quoted scriptures, especially during the loudest and longest sections. After being in church all of my life, the hymns came easy. So did the prayers since that’s just talking to God.
But, actually the verses did as well. Why? Because I had memorized many verses as a child and some even as an adult.
It’s not too late to memorize even now. You may choose your version of the Bible to learn. I’ve tried various versions, but always have to memorize the King James because that’s what I heard for so many years that I get mixed up if I try memorizing anything else.
Let me give you a hint of something to use to help you learn Scripture. There’s an app. I have it on iPhone, but I’m sure you can probably get it on any phone. Just check the App Store. It’s called Bible Memory and has a photo of an open Bible. You may choose various versions of the Bible (although I think all except the KJV cost extra). Then you pick what verses you want to learn. There are several choices that you can make about how to learn.
Although you may use voice in the app, I prefer typing. You may type the whole words or just the first letter of each word. To begin, you see the verse. After a few tries, you have only some words showing. Then, finally, no words are there. Even though I type only the first letter of the words, I’m saying the words in my mind so I’m learning the verse. You may also combine verses together to learn a whole passage. It’s a great activity to use while you wait in line at school or at the doctor’s office.
Why memorize verses when you have your Bible handy all the time, especially with one available on any phone or tablet? Well, just like today, I could not take anything into the MRI with me. But those verses I had memorized were a comfort and helped keep my mind off the noise!
That’s not the only reason, though. What if you’re talking to someone in the yard or at the grocery store and they need some comfort or advice on something? It’s handy when you can just pull that verse from your head without having to look through a Bible or concordance.
How about leading someone to Christ? I know some young people have been led to the Lord at Daniel Springs Encampment swimming pool. You don’t have your Bible or your phone in the water!
There are many instances where it comes in handy to know many verses. I often think of Scripture as I’m driving down the road talking to God. He will remind me of something in the Bible that I need to know for the particular situation that concerns.
Knowing Scripture and memorizing it helps to draw us closer to the Lord. It can keep us on the right track and help prevent us from sinning as much. Sin puts up obstacles between us and God, thus making us farther from Him. Scripture breaks down those barriers. Satan doesn’t want to hear us quoting God’s Word, but God loves to hear it.
Scripture — Psalm 119:11
Prayer — “Lord, thank You for giving us Your Word to guide us through life. Thank You especially for bringing it to my mind at just the perfect time to help me through my day. Help me to learn more Scripture so that I will have it readily available when I need Your perspective on some situation. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Respond — Find one verse that you can learn today. If you can’t think of anything else, memorize Psalm 119:11.
“The Bible in the memory is better than the Bible in the bookcase.” (Spurgeon)
— These articles are shared via the National WMA web page blog that can be accessed at nationalwma.org/blogs.
