With 2016 just around the corner, most of us are probably making goals and plans for next year. I thought that this would be an appropriate time to share some things that I've learned about memorizing/studying during the Bible Bee off-season. By the way, this post focuses more on memorization than study, because I'm not starting an in-depth study until mid-January, and because I enjoy memorizing more than studying :).
It's very important to memorize everyday. A few weeks ago, I missed a day due to business. The next day, I was feeling tired, and I lazily thought, Well, since I missed yesterday, surely another day wouldn't make much difference. So I didn't memorize that day either. Then, the day after that, I still didn't "feel like" memorizing, but I realized that I was being tempted, and if I missed yet another day, would I ever memorize again? It's a slippery slope to miss even just one day, and we have to be careful that we don't gradually go from being faithful memorize-ers to forgetting completely about doing it. Consistency is everything when it comes to memorizing.
I'd really encourage you: don't wait until you feel like it to memorize. There have been so many days that I didn't feel like memorizing in the afternoon (the time that I usually do all my memorizing), and so I planned to memorize after supper. Well, after supper I would be cleaning up the kitchen, and then we would fold laundry while Daddy read a book, and I never ended up memorizing that day, or I would be trying to memorize in just a few minutes before I went to sleep and I wouldn't really have time to meditate on what I was memorizing. The truth is, most of us won't "be in the mood" to memorize until we are actually doing it. Memorizing is something that I love and enjoy so much, but when I'm not doing it, I forget how much I love it.
I've also found that when I commit to a reasonable amount, I'm more likely to get it all done. Last year, I made too many plans for after Bible Bee study and memorization, and so I wasn't able to do all of them to the best of my ability. Of course, it's also quite possible to make goals that aren't high enough. I did that in 2013, so I didn't feel overwhelmed, I just didn't end up doing as much memorizing as I probably would've if I had made more plans. Hopefully, I will find the right balance this year :).
It's also important to have a plan. Rather than just picking a few random verses to memorize each day, I've found it helpful to memorize portions or books of the Bible. Not only does this help with context and understanding what you are memorizing, but it also helps you to make goals. For example, if you decided that you were going to memorize the book of James in January and February, you would need to memorize two verses a day on most days. Memorizing books also keeps me motivated, because I get excited when I'm nearing the end of a chapter or book! :) If you don't know what to memorize, here are a few suggestions:
Isaiah 53 -- A beautiful chapter foretelling the death of Christ.
Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) -- This passage teaches us how to rightly obey God.
Psalm 119 -- One of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible. Its focus is God's Word.
An epistle -- The epistles are a great place to start if you've memorized before, but have never memorized an entire book of the Bible. They are filled with encouragement, exhortation, and God's truth.
A gospel -- When I first heard about someone memorizing a gospel, I was more than a little surprised. Was it really possible to memorize a whole gospel? But as I turned the thought over in my mind, I decided it would be a good idea to try it. I had memorized some epistles, and I wanted to try a different genre. I first thought about Mark since it's the shortest, but then I found out that John was less than 900 verses, which was a good bit less than I had expected. So I thought and prayed about it for awhile, and I started memorizing it on November 12, 2014. Ironically, John 1-12 was the study passage for this year's Bible Bee, so I had a nice head start on it :). I'm still not finished with it yet (I'm in John 17 at the moment), but I hope to finish it sometime in the next few months, by God's grace.
Whatever you decide to memorize, I would encourage you to make memorizing God's Word a priority and to be diligent with it. It's not always going to be very easy, but it is so worth it!
If you have any tips, I would really appreciate them. I still have a lot to learn in this area.
"Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day."
Psalm 119:97
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