Monday, January 04, 2010

MMM: Off and Running

Four days into Mega Memory Month, I'm off to a great start and glad to get back into the memorization habit. I haven't done any memory work for a while--and have actually lost some of the last project I did, after failing to follow through with the reinforcement work--so it feels good to be working on something again.

I thought it would be fun this time around to have in-person friends taking this challenge with me, rather than just fellow bloggers--and to my delight, several women from my church have decided to join me. In fact, a few of them are even going to work through Ephesians 1, as I'm doing. I've also heard that our pastor's son--age five or six--has the whole chapter memorized already, so I'm definitely going to have to ask him to share that with me next week!

The method I use (in case you've been living under a rock...I link to it so often because I think it really is THAT effective!) prescribes working on a verse a day, but I'm taking a bit more aggressive pace so far. Some of the verses are really short, and they sometimes break at odd places in the middle of sentences (and, Paul uses some really LONG sentences!). Plus, I figured I might as well take advantage of the motivation I'm feeling right now--and it'll give me some cushion in case I miss a day here or there later this month.

I've been reminded recently that not only is the ability to memorize a gift from God...but even the desire to memorize is a gift. So I'm praying that God will help me to steward these gifts with humility. I'm praying that He will purify my heart as I memorize Ephesians, that I won't be gaining knowledge for knowledge's sake, but will be changed by His Word and better prepared to minister to others through this work. Ultimately I'm praying this, as Ann so eloquently shared last week:

It’s not just about the words in me … it’s about The Word in me.
Christ in me.
Now that right there puts the “mega” in this month.

May "the Word of Christ dwell in you richly" as you work to memorize it this week!

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