Words By Heart

Yesterday we were riding in the car and this song came on. I sang along, every word coming to me, one line following after the other without a thought. I haven't heard the song in years. At one point I looked over at my son and saw him shaking his head. "What?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"How in the world do you know every word to this weird song that I have never heard before?"

I shrugged and answered honestly. "It's just in here somewhere," I said, and pointed at my head. He just kept shaking his head, smiling that "my mom is so weird" smile that tweens and teens seem to inherently know how to do. I didn't mind.

As we drove on in 5:00 traffic, I wondered why in the world I did remember that song. I mean, it made no sense whatsoever. And yet, there it was. I thought about a story my friend Erica shared with us the other night about a youth group that willingly pretended that they were part of the persecuted church. With the parents' permission, the youth leaders tied them up, locked them in a dark room, and told them they had to recite Bible verses for comfort because they would no longer be allowed access to the Bible. She said that some of them hardly knew any scripture. Others rattled off verse after verse from years in Awana and Sunday school. She said that, if nothing else, those kids left that evening more convinced than ever that they needed to spend time memorizing God's word. Because you just never know when you will need to rely on it.

And as I thought about that song and how I had unknowingly committed it to memory, I wondered how much scripture I actually have memorized. What would happen to me if I was tied up in a dark room, scared and needing to rely on the Word of God? I must confess the amount of verses is sadly lacking in comparison to the songs I know by heart. After hearing Erica's story, I feel the need to be more intentional about upping that number. How about you?