Here’s something about me: I love to know the Bible. My parents know a lot of Scripture, so growing up I was used to adult Christians who had a reference for everything. But as a child I thought this knowledge came naturally, or via osmosis from going to church. I didn’t realize until I was a young adult that a person gets this knowledge from, you know… studying the Bible. And like, praying. And being diligent in applying verses to daily life. Thankfully I caught on and started doing those things! And because I’m a pastor’s wife I’m perfect at it now.

Just kidding!!!

I noticed how much it helped me in my life to know and remember verses (Psalm 119:11), so I began to pursue the Word more intentionally. I’m still not where I’d like to be in this regard, and my search history contains many a partial Bible verse! But I have grown. It didn’t happen overnight, but as I dug into the verses I knew already it motivated me to learn more. Because learning Scripture is not simply a side effect of my upbringing, or going to a Christian college, or being in church all the time. It is the result of the Holy Spirit stirring our hearts to know the Father, and it’s through the Bible that God speaks to us and will help us to better follow him (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Spirit also helps our minds hang onto valuable biblical truths. Every believer can do this!

Recently our senior pastor challenged our church to dig into the Word in 2015, specifically with reading the Bible in a year and with memorizing Scripture. It was a really timely challenge for me. First of all, I hope to finish the Bible this year. The last time I read the Bible cover to cover it took me over two years, and I’m on track to finish at the same rate, which is fine but I would like to finish it sooner. I’m currently in Jeremiah, so I need to pick up the pace but I don’t know if I can make this an official resolution. I joined Bible Study Fellowship this past fall and am trying to keep up with the reading that goes along with my lesson each week- I find it to be a stretching amount of reading. But I would love to grow my mental library of verses, so I am taking on the verse-a-week challenge. Because I don’t want to fail, and everything is easier to memorize if you sing it, I’ll be using verses that are also Seeds Family Worship songs. I’ll post the verse here each week if any of you would like to join me.

The first verse is Acts 17:24-25. That’s technically 2 verses, so I guess I’m an over-achiever already. Here is the text:

²⁴ “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

You can listen to the song on the Seeds site. This is “Life and Breath,” Track 1 on “Seeds of Purpose.” The verses I use will go in chronological order starting with volume 4 (since I’ve memorized most of volumes 1-3). I’ll try to keep the passages no longer than just a few verses, but no promises. 🙂

A quick note about Seeds Family Worship: they are awesome! I’m not being paid to say this, I’ve just loved these songs since they first came into existence and I love to support the Seeds mission. These songs have helped me personally I can’t count how many times I’ve leaned over to my husband during a sermon to whisper, “I’ve got a song for that verse!” And it’s not bragging, I just get excited that the songs WORK. I also used the songs to teach Bible verses to my classes of 3- and 4-year-olds when I taught preschool. It was a delight to watch them dance around, play with the words as they learned, and sometimes even connect verses with behavior (my favorite verse for that was “Do Everything in Love,” 1 Corinthians 16:13). I highly, HIGHLY recommend these songs for parents who are looking to give their children the gift of Scripture, and to any teacher or mentor who is trying to do the same. I also recommend the songs for any adults who are looking for a simple, enjoyable way to learn more of the Bible, because these songs can please ears of any age.

I’d love to hear from you: how have you benefited from memorizing Bible verses? Reading through the Bible? Have you made a Scripture-related resolution for 2015? Will you join me in my verse-a-week challenge?