"Why read and memorize God’s Word?"

For most Christians who have followed Christ for any number of years, this question may seem elementary.  We were taught to hide God’s Word in our hearts early on in our discipleship process.  However, it is inevitable that Christians will go through spiritually lazy stages in their lives and the Scriptures that were once held so dear to them at their conversion, now can and do take a back seat to the busyness of life, even for those in full-time ministry.  But the most interesting thing about that last statement is that we all know it’s true.  We know we can be lazy when it comes to the time we spend alone in God’s Word.  But what is just as true, is that many of us have experienced the peace and joy that we received when the effort to be alone with God and His Word is given priority in our lives.

As believers we are taught that our spiritual war is not fought against flesh and blood but against a spiritual enemy that has a great arsenal.  Satan fires constantly at us with those things the world loves.  These temptations still have appeal to our self-centered and outward desires. This attraction to worldliness strives to charm our pride as the evil one attempts to rob us of our desire for Christ and His Word by placing our priorities on things that will merely pass away.  However, God’s Word says that Satan can be resisted if we stand firm in our faith.  This God-given faith can be and should be strengthened daily through the means God has provided, namely His Word.  The Scriptures remind us that the Bible keeps our direction in life pure, meaning His Word gives us clear paths to follow and keeps us from wandering.  This constant treasuring of God’s Word protects the believer from sin and allows a holy God to provide blessing in our lives that stimulates joy and worship.

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