Convictions from Country Music?

After reading the title of the post, you are probably thinking, "What?" Well let me explain:

This afternoon, we went to visit the newest addition to our family. One of my cousins had a baby girl last week, and we went to see them this afternoon. On our way home, we decided to stop at this fish place close by to grab a bite to eat (and it was really good fish). Well while we were sitting there, the restaurant played country music the entire time. Now I used to listen to country music when I was a kid. In fact, it has been 4-5 years since I stopped listening to it. I hear a few songs every now and then, but my radio does not stay on country stations like it once did. But despite the fact that I have not heard many of these songs for years, the words came back to me immediately. Who knows how many times I had heard these songs prior to today. But it made me once again realize how big our minds are. They can pull things back to our memory from years ago, and that is what mine did today.

So what conviction did this bring to the front of my mind?

It made me realize (again) that our minds can learn and store anything, whether it be songs, movies, or text. When we constantly feed something into our mind, it sticks. Then, when you encounter that object or idea days, months, or years later, your mind remembers it.

So this made me realize that I must get back to Scripture memory. I was working on this back when I started my blog. In fact, one of my first few posts was about the importance of memorizing Scripture. I had started on the book of Philippians after finishing 2 Timothy. I was doing fairly well with the first chapter, but then finals came. Afterwards, I reviewed some and got it back in my mind. But as soon as work started up, it once again fell to the wayside. Then VBS crept up, and now Kids Kamp is on the horizon. I can easily call all these excuses (and maybe "good" excuses), but I know better. The fact is, I forgot to continue, and now I am behind where I had intended to be at this time.

It is funny how something as simple as hearing old songs can bring conviction to the heart. Now I once again have that desire to memorize the Word. So I plan to start again. With the way that the mind works, I may still remember what I had worked on. I will see tomorrow when I start studying Philippians 1 again.

Now I pass this challenge on to you. I have asked this once before, and I ask it again. Do you memorize God's Word? If not, I encourage you to start. We should always "hide His Word in our hearts." I do not present you with anything that I am not thinking through or trying to put into practice. This is an area in my life that I feel needs to be strengthened again. So please join me in memorizing God's Word (whatever section you would like). Just find a passage you enjoy and put it to heart.

Matt