memorizing scripture
letting god’s word shape us
Memorizing scripture is a great thing to do, that is much easier said than done. I’ve been working on it for a very long time. It seems that I’ve accidentally memorized several verses that jumped off the page at me! One of the good things about memorizing scripture is that the meditation of that verse naturally happens as you recite the verse over and over again until it settles in. I’ve been working on memorizing and meditating on Hebrews 4:12 for some time now. The Amplified version is so rich:
First, read it in the New International Version:
For the word of God is alive and active
Sharper than any double-edged sword,
It penetrates even to dividing the soul and spirit, joints and marrow;
It judges the thought and attitudes of the heart
Now read the Amplified Version:
For the Word of God is living and active and full of power [Making it operative, energizing and effective]
It’s sharper than any two-edged sword
Penetrating as far as the division of the soul and the spirit [The completeness of a person]
And of both joints and marrow [The deepest part of our nature]
Exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Scripture gets even richer when memorizing and meditating on it.
See! I told you.
It gets even richer when memorizing and meditating on it. Recently our church held a night of worship and during that time I was led to a couple of verses that I had been memorizing, one of them being Hebrews 4:12.
The Holy Spirit was expanding my understanding of this verse as we worshipped. Let me explain:
The Word of God is Living
He is! And the Word became flesh. (John 1:14) Jesus!
And Jesus is ALIVE. (Matthew 28:6) He is not here, He has risen!
He is sitting at the right hand of the Father (1Peter 3:22).
Jesus is active.
He is always interceding for us (Hebres 7:25).
His Word is powerful!
This “surgery” is elective and ongoing. It can be painful at times but the results remind us that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. (Ephesians 2:10)
His incomparably great power is for us that believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead! WOW!(Ephesians1:19-20)
This makes His Word:
Operative - like having a surgical procedure
Energizing - like the bunny!
Effective - capable of producing results!
It’s sharper than the ancient sword that cut in both directions making it extremely effective in battle. (I Samuel 17:47)The battle is not ours. It made me think of a surgeon’s use of a scalpel and how sharp it must be to accurately operate on a patient without harm, removing what is harming his patient. The Word penetrates as far as the division of the soul and spirit, similar to the scalpel. It slices through both the joints and marrow, like the things hidden in our soul, exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. His Word is The Surgeon. It’s doing open heart surgery on us. It opens us up to His Truth so that He can cut away what needs to be removed. Sometimes it feels like we’re having surgery without anesthesia! OUCH!!
This “surgery” is elective and ongoing. It can be painful at times but the results remind us that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. (Ephesians 2:10)
