Memorization - Not Me

I remember my Mama helping me memorize poems for an assignment in grade school.  I remember standing near the hot water radiator while practicing the poems each week. I knew even then that I was not good at memorizing. My brain just doesn't seem to remember things. I can't recite the poems or even tell you what they were about now. Mama however could probably remember them all. I dreaded the day I had to recite the poem in school and I may only have memorized one that I could recite correctly. I still remember the delight of that accomplishment.

I was challenged by spelling words, too. Mama also helped me practice spelling words every week but I never was very good at that. I'm still terrible at spelling although over time I have grown to remember many words. When I was in middle school I worked on a play but I never wanted a part with lots of script. I knew I wouldn't be able to memorize a lot. I struggled with just a few lines. It was the same with Christmas programs at church.

When I went to college and needed to remember vocabulary or series of words I would devise different ways to remember the words I needed to know. I was challenged to remember anything but wanting my degree bad enough helped me work hard enough to overcome my memorizing deficits.

I am the same way with Scripture verses. I don't do a good job of memorizing verses. I do find that I can remember parts of verses and some I can even trace what book they are found in, but only by keeping a constant nose in the Bible. I admire those who can recite a Scripture verse. I must keep reading and practicing to keep familiarizing myself with all that is in the Bible. Though I can't memorize much, I love being in the Word and getting to know Scripture and holding it in my heart.

"Do not merely listen to the word...Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does," (James 1:22-25 NIV).