I’ve been looking forward to sharing a scripture memory system I heard about in college (from this man) that I think helps ward off some of the pitfalls we talked about yesterday.  Personally I know this system has helped me memorize joyfully, it also allows me to maintain what I’ve spent time memorizing just by spending a consistent 10-15 minutes a day reading! (I swear this is not supposed to sound like an informercial…)

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 3×5 Cards with verses you’d like to memorize written out on them
• A box or container to hold your 3×5 cards (like this)
• 38 dividers to separate your 3×5′s into categories (something like this).

Not to get you started:

• First, decide how much time you’re going to spend memorizing scripture every day. Don’t go crazy in the beginning.  Start with five or ten minutes minutes.
• Next write out the text of the verses you want to memorize on your 3×5′s, listing the reference on both sides.
• Label your 38 dividers. Label 28 of the cards with numbers 1-28, 7 cards with one day of the week (Monday-Sunday), 1 card “Odd”, 1 card “Even” and 1 card “Daily”
• Now, simply read each card for that day thoughtfully three times. Every day you go over your verses all you are responsible to do is to read the verses for that day three times.

As you get in to a rhythm of reading your daily verses you’ll find those you faithfully read everyday will start to stick.  No cramming, no pressure, just consistency.  Read the verses three times a day and you will memorize them with very little effort.  As you grow to being able to recite verses accurately and confidently without looking at the card, advance the verse along the categories you wrote out on your 38 dividers.  If you’ve got a verse down in your daily category, move it up to “Odd” or “Even” and so forth until the verse is filed under one of your 28 numbered cards.

As the verses you’re memorizing move into the progressive categories your daily routine will go something like this: Let’s say the date is Sunday the 19th.  That day you are responsible to read/recite the verses filed under “Daily”, “Odd”, “Sunday” and “19″.  This way you’ll be able to add new verses into your daily and transition them out of your short term memory (Odd/Even, Monday-Sunday) in to your long-term memory where they can be maintain through monthly review (#1-28).  In this way you’ll be able to maintain literally hundreds of verses with only 10-15 minutes per day!

Try this out for a couple weeks and just see what you’re able to memorize!

Yeah. There's an app for that...

What does the phrase “memorization” conjure up in your mind?  The brain pinching pains of rote memory?  Frantic cramming before a test?  Perhaps you’ve sworn it off as everything seems to make it only as far as your short term memory?  Many of us steer clear of memorization for exactly the aforementioned reasons.

On the other hand, as a follower of Jesus I’ve often seen memorizing scripture become some sort of spiritual merit badge for the Christian elite.  As in, “Wow, did he just quote Habakkuk from memory?  He must be really spiritual.”  Obviously something is out of whack right?  (And let’s make sure we’re overly clear on what it is: If we’re really depending on Jesus for our righteousness, then nothing we do adds to that.)

Memorizing and meditating on scripture is obviously a good thing.  That’s clear.  So how do we walk the line between these two common extremes scripture memorization?  Is there a way to joyfully soak ourselves in God’s truth that leads us to treasure his Word while building up a store of his truth that we will be able to draw upon in the future?

Does anyone have a plan or method they use to memorize scripture in a way that helps them do this?