NOVEMBER 7, 2012
From
Head To Heart
Read: Psalm
119:9-16
Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin
against You. —Psalm 119:11
My
childhood piano teacher was a stickler for memorization.
Being able to play a
piece without error was not enough. I had
to play several pieces flawlessly by
memory. Her reasoning was
this: She didn’t want her students to say, when asked
to play,
“I’m sorry, I don’t have my music with me.”
As
a child, I also memorized Bible passages, including Psalm
119:11. Due to my
limited understanding, I believed that simple
memorization would keep me from
sin. I worked hard at memorizing
verses, and I even won a Moody Bible
Story Book as an award.
Although
memorizing the Bible is a good habit to develop, it’s not
the act of
memorizing that keeps us from sin. As I learned soon
after my winning efforts,
having the words of scripture in my
head made little difference in my behavior.
In fact, instead of
victory over sin, knowledge alone generated feelings of
guilt.
Eventually
I realized that the Word of God had to spread through
my whole being. I needed
to internalize scripture, to hide it “in my
heart” the way a musician does a
piece of music. I had to live the
Bible as well as I could quote it. As God’s
Word spreads from our
heads to our hearts, sin loses its power over us.
O Lord, my God, may Your Word become so
much a part of me that obedience comes
naturally and cheerfully from my heart.
Change me andmold me into Your image.
Let God’s Word fill your memory, rule your heart,
and guide your life.
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
