Go Beyond

   Last Sunday morning, a mother with her two daughters approached me between services. She greeted me and then looked at her girls and said, “Girls, this is Pastor Omar. He likes to memorize Scripture.” And then she said to me, “Pastor Omar, my girls would like to quote some verses for you that they have memorized.” I smiled and knelt before the girls and told them that I wanted to hear their memory verses. With that, the girls quoted most of Genesis 1 in perfect sync with one another — without missing a word! And then, the youngest looked up at her Mom and said, “Can we quote the Shema from Deuteronomy 6 for Pastor Omar?” Again, without hesitation and without missing a word, the sisters quoted the Shema. I congratulated the girls and asked their Mom how old they were. “Four and five years-old,” she replied.

   Wow! I must admit that I was impressed by these two little girls. We talk a lot about helping our kids develop a biblical worldview. Teaching our kids to memorize Scripture is a great place to start laying the foundation for a strong biblical worldview. We are exhorted in Scripture to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27). We do a great job of teaching our kids to love God with all their heart. However, we must be as intentional about teaching our kids to love God with all their mind and helping them to become Biblically literate.

   The Psalmist observed, “I have more insight than all my teachers, For Thy testimonies are my meditation” (Ps. 119:99). We might add that kids who are Biblically literate also have more insight than peers who are not. Consider the benefits of being Biblically literate when studying the Civil Rights movement. Martin Luther King, Jr. used Biblical language. He talked about being on the mountaintop, seeing the Promised Land, and “I may not get there with you.” And, consider the benefits of knowing the Bible when studying Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” or the Mayflower Compact, or Ronald Regan’s “Shining City on a Hill” address — to name but a few. Being Biblically literate is a good thing, regardless of whether or not a person is a Christian.

   Christian parents should be proactive in memorizing Scripture and in leading their children to do the same. God’s Word can make our kids wiser than their enemies (Ps. 119:98), give them more insight than their teachers (Ps. 119:99), help them understand more than the aged (Ps. 119:100), restrain their feet from evil ways (Ps. 119:101), give them moral and ethical discernment (Ps. 119:104), and more. When you consider benefits like these, it’s worth the effort it takes to help our kids memorize Scripture.

   For practical help in memorizing Scripture, please read the following pages on my Bible Teaching Notes website …

   • Before You Memorize Scripture
   • How to Memorize Scripture

   Remember, kids have an amazing capacity to memorize. You may actually find yourself having to work hard to keep up with them! So, get started today, or better yet, get a head start today. And, enjoy this experience with your kids.