I really enjoyed the many stories that Robert Morgan told. One story was about a Philip Turner, a small attorney, who woke up in intensive care unit of a hospital after an accident. He was never a religious man and he did not go to church. But when he awoke to the beep beep of machines that he was attached to fragments of Bible verses were going through his mind. "Not that we loved God, but that He loved us . . . Who hath saved us, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace . . . Fear not . . . For God so loved the world . . . Is there anything too hard for Me?" He had not opened a Bible in years but then he remembered as a five year old he attended a Sunday School class. Mrs. Wolf was the teacher. She drilled the class on Bible verses but Philip never seemed to be able to memorize the verses. He was a disappointment to Mrs. Wolf. Yet those memory verses were lying like dormant seeds in his mind waiting for just the right time to germinate. Philip did recover and he recommitted his life to Christ and started going to church.
Another example of the stories Robert Morgan told is one about Howard Rutledge who was a prisoner at Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War. It was the Bible verses that he and other prisoners had memorized that got him through seven years of tortue.
There are immediate benefits to Bible memorization. Morgan say Scripture memory gives us clearer thoughts. It gives us steadies nerves and healthier emotions. For example if you memorize Proverbs 29:11: " A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control." (NIV) there is no better anger management technique. If you struggle with depression, you will find a potent antidote in memorizing Psalm 42. Scripture memory gives us purer habits. It makes us eternal optimists by giving us the ultimate hope. Morgan tells of an incidence when Ruth Graham, who likes to collect Bible verses in her mind, began to quote Romans 8 in the middle of a conversation. What the shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? . . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (31-32, 35 NKJV)
Memorizing Scripture allows God's words to sink into your brain and permeate your subconscious thoughts. It saturates the personality, satiates the soul, and stockpiles the mind. It changes the atmosphere of every family, and alters the weather forecast of every day. These are among the many reasons Morgan gives us on the importance of Bible memorization.
So why don't you check this book out. If the S.V.H.E. library copy is checked out or not available you might consider purchasing this book. It can be purchased from christianbook.com for $7.99. It would be the best money you ever spent.
