In Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald S. Whitney, Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY clearly states,
No Spiritual Discipline is more important than the intake of God’s Word. Nothing can substitute for it. There simply is no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat of Scripture. The reasons for this are obvious. In the Bible God tells us about Himself, and especially about Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God. The Bible unfolds the Law of God to us and shows us how we’ve all broken it. There we learn how Christ died as a sinless, willing Substitute for breakers of God’s Law and how we must repent and believe in Him to be right with God. In the Bible we learn the ways and will of the Lord. We find in Scripture how to live in a way that is pleasing to God as well as best and most fulfilling for ourselves. None of this eternally essential information can be found anywhere else except in the Bible. Therefore if we would know God and be Godly, we must know the Word of God—intimately.
Bible intake…Reading the Bible…Knowing God. You just can’t know God apart from his Word.
We live our lives according to God’s Word (http://www.fbcpaducah.org/resources-audio-video.html. January 3 message “Our Greatest Resource”).
Like the Psalmist, we long to be a people who not only know God by taking in the Word of God, but who store up God’s Word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him. (Psalm 119:11)
Scripture memory…Just the thought can seem daunting and overwhelming. However, the difficulty of the discipline should not deter us from goal.
Many of you are memorizing Scripture through Bible Studies in which you are involved. Our children are hiding the Word of God in their hearts through AWANA on Wednesday nights and Upward Basketball on Saturdays.
If you’re not already regularly memorizing God’s Word, I encourage you to join together with others in our faith family and start this exciting and most profitable discipline. The Fighter Verse Scripture Memory Program is an excellent way to memorize a verse/passage a week. If you are interested, check things out at http://www.hopeingod.org/resources/scripture-memory/fighter-verses. You may want to order your own set of verses. There is also an App for the iPhone that you can purchase—for those of you who are technologically hip. Whatever works for you!
Each week, the new Scripture Memory verse for the week will be posted on our church’s website. (English Standard Version) You’ll also find it on the screens at MIDWEEK, our church website (http://www.fbcpaducah.org/) and on the church Prayer List. Join in, let’s memorize God’s Word together and let’s become more like Christ together.
Pastor Todd
