The Key to Memorizing the New Testament

I teach classes in a Christian College.  In my classes, I tell my students that learning is not something that takes place overnight, but is something that builds up with time.    Bible knowledge is like that and any other learning skill is like that.  The more time you put in, the more you will get out. 

4 LESSONS FROM RUNNING

1.  I have often compared learning to running.  It takes honing your skills by continual practice, and that takes patience.  You cannot give up if you want to reach any goal.  Endurance is the key to learning the Scriptures, and by all means, if you plan on memorizing any portion of the Bible, endurance is the key. 

2.  Don't look at how good others are.  Several years ago I ran my only triathlon - 1.2 miles swimming, 56 miles biking and 13.1 miles running.  I was one of the oldest and one of the most overweight people, so when we swam, everyone passed me using freestyle.  I can't last using that stroke, so I used the breast stroke.  When I left the water (20 minutes after the last person) I hopped on my mountain bike for the 56 mile ride.  Everyone else had racing bikes which are so much lighter and go so much faster.  But I didn't care if I was the first or the last.  I just wanted to endure every part of this race.  By the time I was ready to run, everyone else was either done or close to it. 

When I came to the end line, the sponsers were taking down the finish line and no one else was there to cheer me on and to congratulate me.  But even though I came in over 40 minutes after the last person, I accomplished my goal - and I felt on top of the world.  If you want to memorize the New Testament or even major parts of it, don't think about how smart or how good everyone else is.  You just set your mind for endurance and do it for yourself.

3.  In running, your body is set to do its best by your early 30s.  After that it's a slow downward journey.   But, in learning, the only time your brain will start going downhill is if you get alztheimer's when you are old.  Until then, your brain only gets better and better - so use it.

4.  When you first start running, there is a lot of pain and frustration.  Your mind is not used to running and your body is not used to running.  Even if you are in shape and have been working out in other areas (such as body building).  When you first start running, you will need to put up with shin splints, aches and pains, exhaustion and a multitude of other issues.  But once you get into the groove, your body will not only get used to all this excersize, it will begin to crave it (at times).  Learning is like that.  Memorizing is like that too, but I did find that it didn't take very long to get into the memorizing groove.

MEMORIZING THE NEW TESTAMENT

If you want to memorize the New Testament, more than anything else, you will need endurance.  It's not all about being smart or having a photographic mind or anything like that.  It's only about endurance.  In other words, you don't have to be incredibly smart; you just need to hunker down for the long run.

Plan 20, 30 or even 40 years of memorizing in order to reach your goal.  And plan 30 to 45 minutes a day.

If you can grab onto this, you can and will memorize amazing amounts of scripture.