I’ve been told I have a good memory.  Just ask my wife.  I can remember dates and details with amazing accuracy.  She can’t.  I remember the exact date we decided to start dating 18 years ago; I remember the exact location of our first kiss and where we were the first time I told her I loved her.  She has a hard time remembering some of those specifics, although one would think she would have been so blown away by my good looks and the heat of my love that she would remember.  Anyway, I have a really good memory…except in one area:  Bible memorization.  As a pastor, I’m ashamed to admit it, but it’s true.  I just haven’t been able to hang on to the verses I’ve memorized in the past.

As a kid, I memorized dozens of verses.  I had to in order to keep up with the biblical brainiacs in my Boy’s Brigade group (Christian version of Boy Scouts).  I wanted those darn badges sewn on my uniform as bad as the next guy, and the only way to get them was to – in addition to completing other activities – memorize Scripture.

I also memorized 50 verses one year in order to earn a $50 scholarship to church camp.  I remember that if you didn’t go to camp, my church offered a lame consolation prize.  Instead of the $50 scholarship, they handed out $10 gift certificates to the local Christian bookstore.  Ten bucks?  You couldn’t even buy the latest cheesy Christian cassette with ten bucks!  Anyway, I memorized the 50 verses and took the $50 discount for a week of trying to impress beautiful Christian girls from other churches.

All those verses memorized…and so little to show for it.  When I was ordained for service in pastoral ministry, I had to recite some of the verses I had committed to memory for my ordination board.  I knew it was coming so I prepared for it, but I was frustrated with how little I remembered from years gone by.  I’m convinced – for me – that the traditional method of Bible memorization does not work for the long-haul of life.  Trying to cram a verse (or verses) into my head with a deadline for reciting it back to someone just doesn’t work.  It’s much like the cramming I did for those college exams I took.  I’d cram the information into my head just long enough to spit it back out on the test…and then it would all be forgotten by the next day.

The psalmist says that he would hide God’s Word in his heart and it would help him not to sin against God.  He didn’t say that he would cram God’s Word in his mind…he said he would hide it away in his heart.  Therefore, I use a different Scripture memorization method – one that helps me hide God’s Word in my heart rather than cram it into my head.  I call it the M&M method, which stands for a process of meditation that leads to memorization.  With this process, cramming is out, and meditation is in.  And when I say meditation, I mean a process whereby I allow a certain passage of Scripture to have its way with me over a long period of time.  I calmly read it, ponder it, and pray it several times a day for a period of several days, weeks, or even months, depending on how much I need that certain passage to work in and through my life.

I write the passage down on an index card and carry it with me wherever I go.  I post it in places where I’ll see it several times a day.  The goal is not memorization.  The goal is life application, but what I find is that after a period of this kind of intense and repeated meditation…I’ve got the passage memorized!  The M&M method is one that I’ve found that actually “hides” God’s Word in my heart as opposed to cramming it into my head.  It’s a process that transforms my life while also depositing a passage of Scripture into my heart and mind that I won’t soon forget.

This process is not nearly as quick as the traditional cramming method nor will it allow you to memorize nearly as much Scripture.  You will not win $100,000 doing it. However, the Scripture you do memorize by doing this will prove to be sharper than any double-edge sword in your life.  You will be transformed.  God guarantees it!