By: Kacie Starr Long
My husband Alfred is a creature of habit. He wakes up each morning and does his ritual: bathroom, coffee, and Jesus.
As a single woman, I fantasized about extended mornings curled in bed with my husband, where we would discuss what we would have for breakfast, plan our day and share any dreams or visions we had during the night. But that fantasy was abruptly shattered, when as a newlywed, I would wake and find, Alfred already up for the day and in his office, praying and reading the Bible.
I was disappointed that my fantasy as a newly-married woman of lounging in the bed with her husband all morning was not happening, and when I was ready to open my mouth and complain to my husband about how I felt that he should spend time with me first thing in the morning, I felt God stop me.
As a single woman, I had prayed for a husband that would have a heart for God, and God reminded me that my husband belonged ultimately to Him, and what did it really look like for a wife to complain that her husband was spending too much time with God?
So I did what any wife with wisdom would do: I began to wake up early in the mornings and spend time with God also. I made breakfast for us in the mornings and kissed my husband as I delivered his bowl of oatmeal, and went into my area of the home that I re-created into my personal prayer room.
Since we've been married for close to eight years, I have developed a habit of seeking God first thing in the morning. Usually, this looks like waking up, entering my prayer room, turning on my space heater (I like it warm), and laying down on my belly to pray and talk to God. I then later get up and read the Bible.
In 2017, I began to read the Bible over the course of the year using the YouVersion Bible app. This was helpful because it created discipline, and I enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment in knowing that I had read the entire Bible in a year. (Also, the app was great because it provided a devotion before the readings and it helped me understand what I was reading.)
I have done this every year, but this year felt like I was reading the daily passages to finish --- and not really understanding what I was reading.
Hence, the purpose for my writing this particular blog today.
I want to know God's word and I want to have God's word LIVE in me. In other words, I want to fall in love with God's word. I don't want to read the Bible out of routine or habit. I want to enjoy the Bible, I want to delight in God's written and Holy Word. I want to spend time, diving into the Bible and really allowing the word of God to be engrafted in my heart. And not just read it for an upcoming sermon or a checkmark at the end of the day.
Maybe you are like me, and you have a desire to truly know God's word, and fall in love with His Word. (Maybe the idea of falling in love with God's word sounds a bit too deep, but you DO desire to know and understand more of His word if that's you...keep reading)
As we approach a new year, I am thinking of ways to fall more in love with God's word and to do this, I am going to need to change my morning routine a bit. I'm going to still wake up early to spend time with God, but instead of speed reading through a Bible plan each day, I am going to focus on memorizing scripture each week.
I may not read as much of the Bible this coming year, but my focus is on QUALITY instead of quantity. For the past few years, I have read the entire Bible, but the quality of this time with God, was often rushed, and if you had asked me to explain to you what I just read, I wouldn't have been able to do so.
So this coming year, I am slowing down.
I want to be intentional, to meditate and think through scripture and understand the context and how this scripture applies to my life. This looks like scripture memorization for 2023.
Why, scripture memorization?
Because I want to get the word of God deep in my heart, and by memorizing the word of God I can't help but meditate and chew on the scripture each and every day.
If you are interested in falling in love more and more with God's Word, I'm inviting you to join me on this journey.
Each week, I'll share a scripture for our memory and reflect on it. As a subscriber to my blog, you will receive a weekly email from me. I'll share the verse for the week and provide a devotional to accompany it. It is my hope that you too will grow stronger in God's word, and we'll fall in love with His word more and more.
And because there is no time like the present, I am sharing with you this week's scripture, 2 Timothy 3:16-17:
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
I selected this scripture because it lets me know that:
* All Scripture is inspired by God, and if it is inspired by God it is important. Anything God touches is important and worth my attention. Scripture is worth our attention to slow down, digest it and understand what it is saying. (In other words, Scripture is worth me turning off Netflix and YouTube for 30 minutes to meditate on what God is saying and think through what God wants me to know through the verse).
* Scripture leads me into truth. There is so much deception in our world, and I am not smart enough to not be deceived without God's word guiding me. In other words - I need the wisdom of scripture in my life. Think about it: We need God's word to guide our everyday lives. Satan loves to tell us that scripture is irrelevant, its too hard to understand, or that its just not that important --- but it IS important and we need God's truth.
* Scripture corrects and teaches me. As a wife, bonus mother and grandmother, business owner, preacher....I need God's word in my life. God's word is nourishment and I want to know it.
* Knowing God's word prepares and equips us to do God's good work. I believe you want to glorify God with your life and do things that will not only help your family but others in your community and the world. Knowing God's word prepares, and equips you- it will ground and anchor us and help us do God's work.
I have felt Satan subtly try to plant thoughts or beliefs that I don't need to study God's word. Because I know some scripture and know the "important" things about the Bible, that intentional time of study and discipline regarding God's word is unimportant -- or if it's not unimportant, then there are other things that I could be doing that are more important than studying God's word.
I know this is a lie. After all, Satan would love nothing more than for you or me to NOT study, and memorize God's word. He doesn't want us to be empowered by the living, holy, powerful, word of God. But that's too bad, WE WILL grow deeper in God's word and we will make the intentional decisions to study and memorize scripture.
So, will you join me on this journey?
Will you join me for weekly communication as we study, and enjoy God's word together? Not simply reading scripture, but allowing it to be planted deep in our hearts?
I'm so looking forward to this time together.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17
What is God saying to you about this scripture?
Have you ever memorized scripture? If so, do you have a favorite method to memorize scripture? I would love to hear from you in the comments.
Hi, my name is Kacie Starr Long. I am an author, and speaker and I love to use my voice to point people to Jesus. When I'm not writing, I'm either working out at Orange Theory Fitness or sewing. God delivered me from food addiction and I have a sewing ministry, called the Sew Hope Community Sewing Room. I am the proud wife of Alfred T. Long, Sr and together we lead a non-profit that serves prisoners and their families. Connect with me at www.InspiredOverflow.com and via my YouTube page for Christian teachings and encouragement.