Psalm 119:11 (NIV)

11 I have hidden your word in my heart 

that I might not sin against you.

 I still know my grandmother’s phone number. I still feel the pattern of dialing it in my hands. Sadly, I haven’t had a reason to call it in about 30 years, there wouldn’t be anyone to pick up on the other end. In the Jewish understanding, these memories do not reside in our head but in our heart. The heart is the center of your being where the most important things dwell. We have never been able to get away from this in our modern culture either. If we need to have a deep and intimate conversation, we have a heart to heart. If we really want to know something, we need to get to the heart of the matter.  If something is really important to us and we really know it, we know it by heart.

When the shepherds came to Mary and told her about the angels’ proclamation, she stored it and pondered it in her heart (Luke 2:19). Paul tells us that it is in our heart that we believe (Rom 10:10) and it is out of our heart that our life flows (Prov 4:23), is it any wonder that we are exhorted to guard our heart so carefully? Whatever we allow into our heart will impact what comes out in our lives. As Jesus said, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45)

So, what is stored up in your heart? What do you know by heart? What are you pondering there? Whatever is stored up there will flavor your life, whether it be fear, song lyrics, or old Seinfeld episodes (and I’m not sure that is what I want flowing from within me). Jesus calls us to store up His words in our hearts (John 15:7) and when we have His words within us, our lives will be flavored with eternal truth and love. We will carry the aroma of Christ, our hearts will be secure, and our life will be full of God. If we are to follow Jesus, we must be intentional to know His words by heart. When His words are in you, you can call Him anytime you want… He will always be there to pick up.  

Your turn:

This week we will get Jesus’ word in our hearts through Scripture memorization.

• Choose a portion of Scripture that you are going to want to carry with you all the time. It is important to do more than just a couple of various verses, you want the context. 

• Start by “pondering it” in your heart. Read through it multiple times. Meditate on it. Put it in your own words. Try to visualize it like you are watching a movie. Ask questions about it. What words stand out in the passage? Say it out loud. 

• Get a journal and write it out, over and over again. Try to do it without looking at it and see how well you did. 

• Preach it. Say it out loud as though you are teaching it to a crowd of listeners. 

• If the portion is longer than a paragraph, break it into sections and work on one section at a time. 

If you are up to the challenge, memorize the Sermon on the Mount as we make our way through it. You will have 2 weeks to memorize each portion, it is already broken down for you, and you will be processing the content as you are trying to get it into your heart.