40 Days of Scripture

By Tom Cox

Every Christian should long for a greater knowledge of Holy Scripture. As our faith matures, we grow to love the Bible like no other book. Its verses seem to take on more meaning with each reading, and its wisdom seems more profound as we live our lives. How many of us have wished that we knew the Book of Proverbs thoroughly when we were young? "Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching." (Proverbs 1:8)

Our 40 Days' journey will plunge us deeply into scripture; each chapter of The Purpose Driven Life - our guidebook for the next six weeks - focuses on two or more verses from the Bible to help us discover God's purpose for our lives. But there's more.

Each week the entire congregation will be challenged to memorize one special verse that ties to that week's overall topic. But what is so special about Bible memorization? Simply put, the best way to grow in your knowledge of scripture is to start memorizing key passages. The repetition necessary to memorization increases your focus, and an increased focus leads to understanding that is hard to duplicate. Most of us believe this, but we have held back in applying ourselves. We think we have a poor memory, or that we can't take the time, or that we will forget what we memorize almost immediately. Our 40 Days of Purpose campaign offers an opportunity to change that.

The challenge is not remembering, but memorizing. That takes practice, practice, and more practice. Anyone who had to learn a musical instrument knows what I mean. With Bible verse memorization, it becomes a daily routine: write the verse three times on a 3 x 5 card, then say the verse three times in the morning and three times in the evening. Look at the card after you say it. In one week you will have memorized the verse.

Once you have the verse committed to memory, go back to the Bible and read the context. You'll be surprised at how your understanding increases. With Rick Warren's discussion in his book, and his Bible Study video presentations, these verses will seem soaked with meaning you never noticed before! But the best part of this exercise is that you will have started a study habit that you can keep using the rest of your life to increase your knowledge of scripture, and your ability to share that knowledge with others.

Six verses.
     Six weeks.
          Six hundred fellow students.

It should be fun!