WORDS IN DUE SEASON

Thy word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against Thee. Psalm 119:11 NAS

I’ve mentioned that I am doing a Bible study with some women. We determined at the beginning that we were not going to be lax about memorizing key verses when we were asked to. We even had some incentives to do so. When we memorized our first lengthy verse we put the names of everyone who had met the goal of memorization into a hat and drew for a prize. It was fun, but honestly the real reward has been to see how the word has truly kept us from falling.

The first week our Scripture verse was Philippians 2:14-15 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world. I developed a problem with my computer that I couldn’t resolve. I called for technical support and spent two hours on the phone with someone who was trying so hard to be helpful. However, we did have a large and frustrating barrier….I couldn’t understand his thick accent. I was transferred to another person who I couldn’t really understand either. The problem was never resolved. As I sat and waited on the phone, my memory verse held me in check. I was not going to grumble or be rude. I wasn’t going to whine to everyone within ear shot either. I was just going to deal with it as graciously as I could. I’m not saying I did it perfectly, but God’s Word truly helped me. A couple of days later I went back to my computer and went through some basic steps again, just to make sure I had done everything before I took it to my computer guy. Voila, it began to work again without a hitch. I was one happy camper.

The next week our verse was from 1 Timothy 6:6-10 Part of those verses say, “But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.” Our daughter called that week to tell us that she had lost the stone out of a ring we had given her many years ago. It was an heirloom that had been in my husband’s family since the Civil War. The stone was very unique and irreplaceable. She was heartsick and dreaded telling us. The first thought that came to mind was, you guessed it, “We brought nothing into the world so we can’t take anything out of it either.” I am so sorry that it happened. I know she felt terrible. I know my husband regrets that it happened, but none of us have been plagued or weighed down by the loss. We are still here, still healthy, still have a God who loves us and has always taken care of us. No treasure we have ever laid up in heaven will be lost, stolen, or destroyed by moth or rust. God’s word helped us to deal with it and move on.
If you want to be more victorious in the daily nitty-gritty’s I recommend memorizing Scripture. It has been such a rewarding endeavor in my life the past few weeks. I love it!

MY PRAYER: Lord, thank you that your word is so powerful and practical. Help us to treasure it in our hearts so that we don’t sin against you. We want to shine like lights for your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen