The psalmist said, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 119:97). He understood the benefit of meditating on Scripture to gain the wisdom of God. This wisdom is never meant to make us prideful or arrogant. Instead, meditating on the word should transform us more and more into the image of Jesus, our Savior. Memorizing Bible passages is a great way to meditate on God’s word, and it’s one of the ways God passes the faith on to the next generation.
Writing to Timothy, Paul said, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well” (2 Tim. 1:5). How did this faith come to dwell in Timothy? Just a little later, Paul would say, “from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15). God planted the seed of faith in Timothy through the faithful labors of his grandmother and mother. As they watered Timothy with the word, God brought about spiritual growth.
As parents, we can’t cause our children to be born again, but we can acquaint them with the word through which God affects the new birth. Peter said, “you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet. 1:23)
That’s why I want to share this free Core resource, “10 Verses to Memorize As a Family This Summer,” written by William Boekestein (pastor at Immanuel Fellowship Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan) and Dan Warne (pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church in Temecula, California). We believe that these verses in particular will help to ground you and your children in the “ABCs” of the faith. These passages will help your children understand who God is and what the gospel is. I’ve had the privilege of going through some of these passages with my own children, and with you I pray that God would use his word to ignite faith in our families.
May God bless you as you begin!
