Metaphorically speaking, ownership implies: “I bought in,” “I agree,” “This is mine.” Furthermore, it demands that we “Come clean,” “Be accountable,” “Take responsibility”.
A time-honored concept. Back in ancient Israel, Moses writes, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” Deuteronomy 29:29.
This verse tells us two things. God chose to shroud his majesty in mystery. And He also chose to reveal Himself. What God chose to reveal in His Word belongs to us, his children. It’s a gift.
Back in 1992, after I memorized Ephesians over a six month period, a strange feeling washed over me. Every time I heard anything from Ephesians mentioned—in a sermon, in conversation, or on the radio, I immediately thought,
That’s my book!
I had poured my life into Ephesians and it now belonged to me. With each book that I memorized the same possessiveness occurred. Even to this day I think, “That’s one of my psalms, or one of my books.” I believe God intends this. His purpose goes far beyond winning my verbal allegiance. He wants me to own it—all the stories, every message, each page.
He gave us the Bible so that we may follow all the words in it. Alas—the difficult part.
To me, meditating on the same passage over a several-month period strengthens my weak knees. Meditation confronts me with the truth and forces me to deal with it. For example,
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15.
These words nail me every time, because my nature loves things—pretty things. Saying these words out loud, and owning them, emboldens my resolve to love my Father, and not the things in the world. To own this verse, in every sense of the word becomes my goal—an inner conviction to believe its message and to live it.
Memorizing the Bible helps me take ownership of God’s truth. What makes you own it?
I totally agree, Janet! Strengthening the weak knees and feeble hands. It is a mystery. I’ll ponder that concept of shrouded in mystery and yet revealing Himself. Another example of the opposites held in tension that I have been noticing. Free will/election. We have to die to live. Love it!
Another passage that sheds light on the mystery of God is Col. 2:2-3 “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden the all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” God has chosen to reveal his mystery through Christ, and as I seek Christ in every way, with my heart and soul and diligence in God’s Word, the mystery unfolds piece by piece. There’s no limit. That keeps me motivated and hungry for more.
I feel the same way when I hear a quote from a book I’ve memorized, it’s “my book.” It even got to the point that when my husband heard it, he would say to me, “that’s yours, you know it don’t you.” I like how you brought out that ownership is buying into something. I think this is very true and it made me reevaluate what other things in my life do “I own.” Am I owning up to selfishness, envy, dishonestly, etc. in my life? Because I have to own it before I can work on it and let it go. I’m in a place in my life right now where there is a lot of introspection going on, it is not always easy. I’m so thankful I have The Lord’s Word to help me navigate through.
Thank you so much for your blog, it is blessing me more than you can know.
So glad you’re enjoying the blog. There are kindred spirits here and we want to affirm each other, and spur each other on to greater depths of knowing and loving God.
Oh, Janet, this is the same with me! I love to hear scripture quoted from “my books.” It brings me such joy to know that I know those verses and where to find them and then that joy turns to praise to the Lord for allowing me the honor of first being able to read His word and then being able to memorize His word. It’s such a gift He has given!!
He has revealed to me, just recently, that all of my life is for His glory and He owns me. All of me, including my memory. My memory belongs to Him! So what am I going to fill my memory with today?
Bless you, Janet, and all the lovely souls writing and reading this blog!
Somehow I knew there would be a lot of “Me too”s with this post. I think its one of the greatest benefits of memorizing Scripture passages, because in our hearts, what we long for, is not just to know God’s Word, but to feel like these truths are for us. That also helps me in deciding what to memorize next. I ask myself what I need and want to make a part of my life. I know that passage will change me as I take in every word and make it my own.
Janet, I absolutely know the feeling of owning a book when I hear it referenced. I cannot suppress the smile that comes as I think “Hey, they are reading from ‘my book'”. It is a joyous feeling. But, I never pondered beyond that to think that God intended for me to have that possessiveness. But, of course, that makes perfect sense. The more connected I feel to the passages, the stronger impact they will have on my everyday living.