I Remember...Only What I Can Remember

Good morning! Have you compared memories with another person only to find that you both recall differently some event? Police detectives compare witness statements because memory does change and for most of us recall is not perfect. You and me are not the only ones to have problems with those slippery memories of yesteryear. Fortunately, God provided for that little problem before we were born.

The Holy Spirit reminds us of scripture, the Law, our Lord Jesus and any other thing we need to know as we grow toward our arrival at Jesus' place. If my salvation was dependent upon my perfect memory, such as say a recital of the book of John at the pearly gates without the use of crib notes or a teleprompter, then I would be in deep trouble. People have memorized books of scripture, but Jesus took care of the requirements for my salvation. Our growth in Christ is not dependent upon perfect memory recall either.

If we needed to meet some requirement of 1,425 verses memorized by the time we reached the fifteenth anniversary of our salvation, most of us would be in some difficulty. We could stumble over John 3:16, recite a bit of the 23rd Psalm, and there was that bit about 'in the beginning' somewhere, but we could not recite even the short books if our salvation depended upon it. Even the verses we have memorized may not roll perfectly off our tongue every time we speak them. Could it be that God wants us to return to His Word daily?

If I remembered perfectly every Bible verse I ever read, I might not return to the Bible to study and talk it over with my Lord Jesus. Someone might spout off an obscure verse, Haggai 2:14 for example, and I would recite it from my perfect memory without giving it any meaning or application. However, if I have to look it up (Haggai, near the end of the Old Testament by those two 'Z' fellows.) Then I can read the context, note who is speaking and why, and other important matters. The Holy Spirit can point me to other verses; I can dig deeper into the Word and learn.

Scripture memorization is useful, especially at those times when we don't have a copy of God's Word near to hand, but it isn't the only thing we have in our walk with Christ. Praise God for His Holy Spirit.

Bucky