Memorizing Scripture: Why Bother?

Recently, while reading John Piper's When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy, I was reminded of and challenged by the discipline of memorizing scripture. And so I thought I would pass the challenge along to you.

The most common response to this challenge can be summed up in two words: "Why bother?"

Is there any value in memorizing Scripture? Is there really a benefit to memorizing verses, paragraphs, chapters, or even whole books? Should I really memorize anything other than John 3:16? What's the point in it anyway?

There's really no point in challenging you to memorize Scripture if you don't think there's any point. So let me explain why I think it's important.

First of all, the Bible is called the "sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17). It's the only piece of the armor of God that is used to attack. What do we attack? Well, Satan and his minions. Remember that we are engaged in a spiritual battle. We are engaged in a battle against our sin. We are also engaged in a battle with the world's system of belief. How can we stand if we don't use our most powerful (and, actually, ONLY) weapon against it?

Also, many times in Scripture we see people being told to meditate on God's Word. To think about it. To consider what it is saying. Day and night. We're told not to let it leave our mouths. So it is important that we really try to make Scripture a regular part of our daily existence.

"Well, that's all well and good," you may say. "But I can do all that with a Bible in hand, can't I?"

Yes, you can. And, possibly not. Listen to the psalmist:

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

How did the Psalmist fight sin? Was it with a regular quiet time? Was it with his scroll in hand so that he could browse through and find the verse that would kill the temptation before he found himself sinning? No, he killed sin by storing God's Word in his heart.

How is it that you kill the urge to speak angrily and harshly at work when your Bible is not near by? How do you conquer various temptations at 3 in the morning without the sword in hand, when it's dark and you don't want to move?

More importantly, how do you comfort someone who's hurting or wondering about God or needs some encouragement when you don't have your Bible handy? Can we really minister to other people or challenge ourselves to continue following God if we don't memorize Scripture?

I hope that you will take the challenge to memorize. I'll be posting more on some techniques that may help you along the way. But for now - take serious stock of your life. What areas of your life would benefit from memorizing Scripture? And, more importantly, what are you going to do about it?