Every Thought Captive

A few months ago, the ladies from our church were doing the Beth Moore study on James.  One of the challenges she gave in the study was to memorize the entire book of James.  When I first heard this, my initial thought was something like “wow, great for people that can do that… But not for me.”  But as the study continued, I began to realize that I didn’t have a good reason why “that wasn’t for me”  Well except maybe laziness, which is never a good reason not to do something.  I also began to consider that memorizing a whole book of the bible could be a great use of my mind, not to mention my time.  And I also couldn’t get away from the realization that if not scripture in my head, what else would I be thinking about in its place?  It didn’t take long for me to realize that the other options were not great in comparison.

There is something exciting when you begin to memorize scripture, and not just a few verses, but actually a whole book.  It somehow becomes more real and focused, at least for me.  I would find myself reciting it, in moments of quiet, or when I couldn’t sleep or was frustrated.  It brought the book of James into my everyday, moment by moment life, as opposed to simply reading it and then moving on with my day.  I also found that the context in which James was speaking, began to come together.  What he was communicating in his letter began to be more connected to me; I began to see how the thoughts were cohesive.  Memorizing on this level also made the charge in Philippians 4 8-9 much easier to follow: “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”  It also really struck me that I actually could do this; I wish I had tried this sooner.  How much could I have memorized if I had attempted this earlier?  What an amazing way to use the mind and memory that God has so graciously given me!

I am continuing this.  There have been a lot of things in my life that I have started, and then let die, either out of laziness, forgetfulness, or apathy.  This will not be one of them.  Next is Philippians.  If anyone still reads this, please keep me accountable.  Ask me how Philippians is going or better yet, ask me to recite what I've learned.

Ashley