Today I was reading:
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:17-21; ESV)
This reminded me of one of the things that impresses me about some people. That is when someone has immersed themselves in the Bible enough - memorized enough scripture - that when they speak, it comes out as Scripture. I'm not just talking about being able to recite, "For God so loved the world..." rather, when someone is talking in everyday life and the best words that their subconscious can find to express their ideas mirror scripture. We have a retired pastor in McComb like that.
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Another example of that is Augustine's Confessions. You cannot read a passage of that book without reading Scripture because Augustine expressed his ideas in scriptural terms. See this online cross-referenced copy of Augustine's Confessions for instance. You know he had to have been completely immersed. The exposure to scripture had renewed Augustine's mind - transformed it - conformed it.
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That impresses me because my spirit seems to resist scripture memory.
1 comments:
I used to memorize entire books of the bible, and have been wanting to again. Your post encourages me to get cranking.
A couple of years ago, when I was really under a lot of condemnation, guilt, etc (forgetting I'm 100% righteous), I read "Grace Abounding..." by John Bunyan (what a timely read! I can't recommend it enough). I was struck by how the Lord brought Bunyan to faith partly by recalling Scripture to his mind, BEFORE he was even regenerate!! I guess he had heard it in church, possibly memorized it too. Different times back then. Anyway, after he came to faith, God continued to speak to him so much through Scripture he had memorized.
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