The thing about memory verses sometimes... Sure they help us know and remember the promises of God by heart. Intelligent directions. But it doesn't really help our faith to know the promises of God by heart, unless our faith rests on His very being. His character, His attributes, His perfections and His faithfulness.
One can sadly be a top Bible-scholar without being a true Christian at heart! I've known of at least one.
Faith cannot just rest on the promises alone. Anyone can make promises for that matter! But not everyone keeps the promises he/she made.
Our Christian faith must thus rest on the One who made the promises. One who does not lie. Take His own breathed Word for example - the Bible, is a book of truth. It hides no facts. It hides no penalties. God tells us David was a man after His own heart but He also tells of how he fell and committed adultery. Peter was His chosen apostle but he cursed, swore and said, "I never knew Him." God tells us about eternal life in Christ but He doesn't hide the troubles, hardships and persecutions we would go through as long as we bear our Christian identity. We've got to buy the crown with blood, sweat and tears. Such an honest Book of Life. We've got to absolutely read it for ourselves and let His Word come alive to us! It's no use to merely live on borrowed faith based on even the words we hear from the preacher's pulpit!
OK, perhaps I digressed a little bit there.
Anyway back to the subject of memory verses - I think, before we memorize verses and learn them so that His promises seep into every fibre of our beings, we've got to know God for who He really is. Then we can tap on His promises at any moment, confidently and fully counting on the merits of His Son, upon which we depend. I mean, what is the point of holding on the promises of someone that you don't really know? If that is the case, it would be truly difficult to trust and hope.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
What faith rests upon...
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3 comments:
Agree!
Big Bird once said..not to be a theoretical Christian..because you may speak of the word profoundly but if your life is not driven by faith & obedience..then, regardless of how much you can remember out of the scripture just makes you none other than a self-proclaim Christian who has no God living within..(is that the right way to say it?)
yeah, that's quite true :)
back then when i was a just starting out in my Christian walk, i use to find that memorizing verses was seriously a drag.honestly i wasnt motivated at all to memorize them, and i surely thought it wasnt for any purpose at all. but it all changed ever since His Words comforted me during the times of trials and hardship in my life. those verses kept ringing on my mind, and it was really really comforting. it was clear yet gentle, and i knew that God Himself is speaking to me through those verse. ever since then, memorizing verses is a JOY! :D
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