Chapter 3: My Own Journey

Paul encourages us to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly (Col 3:16).   Not just casually but richly!  Overflowing.  Abundant!   If someone were to tell me to let their money dwell in my back accounts richly,  I would want to lavish so much into my financial accounts that I didn’t know what to do with it.   The same is true when we’re told to let the Word of Christ dwell in us “richly.”   We want it to be not just full in us but overflowing!  And one great way to do this is through  memorization.

In centuries past memorizing the Word was not only normal but it was necessary.  The Scriptures were written on scrolls and in later times, on parchments.  Not everyone had access to these texts so memorization was essential.   After memorizing the Scriptures, it provided opportunity to continually meditate upon the truth and share with others.    Even Paul, Peter, Jesus and others spent much time memorizing the Word as we see in the way they quoted and referenced the Bible texts. 

My own journey of memorization began during my college years.  I wondered what it would be like to memorize a whole book of the Bible.  I had heard the stories of Hebrew boys memorizing the first 5 books of the Bible.  If they could do so, why couldn’t I?  And so began my journey of learning how to memorize large portions of Scripture. 

Not wanting to be overly ambitious, I started with the book of Philippians.  I tackled it the best I knew how, studying the words, and repeating it often.  At times I could barely contain my joy in what I was discovering.  There was such life in memorizing His Word as I was meditating and absorbing truth.  I don’t remember how long it took me to finish, but finally I was able to recite the whole book and did so to a friend over lunch.  It was a good experience and a good start out of the blocks. 

But I have something to confess.  After that time whenever I was reading through the Bible, if I came to Philippians I would skip it.  To be quite honest I was burned out on the book.  This was a bit of a surprise as I had so enjoyed the process.   It was years before I could read Philippians again.   This wasn’t exactly what I wanted but I still recognized the good fruit from memorization.

Some time after this I came across a booklet entitled, “How to Memorize the New Testament in Two Years.”  It was based on the idea that if you memorized 20 verses a day, even if you didn’t have them memorized well, the very nature of reading the Word and hearing sermons would help with recall.  If every two years you went through the New Testament, you could gain more and more recall.  This booklet set me on a path to memorize the New Testament, Psalm and Proverbs,  a goal I still have today.   But  the problem was that I found myself being driven along by rote and by the speed to get it done, memorizing the words but not taking time to dwell on the meaning.  I made it to Matthew 22 before I decided to stop.  I was gaining familiarity with Scriptures losing heart due to lack of engagement.  Each step of the journey I was learning but I still wasn’t there yet.

Still persisting I found an online a memorization system that guaranteed that you could memorize a whole book or your money back.  I thought to myself why not give it a try?  I figured I could use this to memorize the Bible.  So I paid the fee and delved in.  Part way through the course I realized that it indeed could help someone memorize a book, even the Bible.  But the method was based on attaching pieces of information to different objects then seeing the objects in your mind with those pieces of information attached.   It is effective and helpful at memorizing random data but instead of the meaning of Scripture, I was focused mentally at looking at the objects and pieces of information attached to it.  Getting there as it helps to memorize data and lists (which do appear in Scripture), but not quite what I was looking for the whole of Scripture.

Finally someone taught me a method that has good results.  It is a way of memorizing that is conducive to how the brain remembers information and doesn’t lead to burnout.   It has changed how I do memorization and I personally cannot ever go back to rote.   The more I practice, the easier it becomes. 

Finally after years of journeying, a method of memorizing was shown to me that I’ve found to be effective.  It is based on coding the information into a right-brained format.  Instead of focusing on getting the words memorized right away, although learning the exact wording is indeed part of the process, it focuses primarily on the story.   Personally I’m more left-brained dominant as I like math, language and such but what I’ve discovered is that the right brain is more capable of capturing memory.  This is the side that remembers story, emotion and pictures.  When the ride side is engaged first, the left side of the brain (words and data) happily tags along.

What I also discovered is that memorization becomes more natural.  I don’t burn out on a book that I am working on as there is no end to its development.   I find myself reciting Scripture when I am falling asleep at night and repeating it when I wake up.  I discovered that I love to recite Scripture in the car as I’m driving and to my friends at meals.  My recall has also been significantly enhanced.

Greater than all this is that the Scriptures are now becoming more alive to me.  I’m not focusing on the words but on the story unfolding vividly in my mind, as if I was there myself.  Sections of Scripture that I didn’t understand before are coming to life.  So much so that for some parts of Scripture, I’m not sure that I had really ever understood.

Scripture memorization has many benefits, most of which will come through your own personal journey of discovery.   But rest assured, memorizing large parts of Scripture is within your reach.   It is not age dependent or education dependent.  It does take some work but trust the process because the fruit is really good.