Here we are…two weeks into 2021. That’s right, we have already passed 3.8% of the year! It seems like only yesterday we were ringing in the New Year…oh wait. It’s still new!
That’s right, it is still fresh start season. It’s still time to enact the New Year’s resolutions. It is still good to look to all that this year can be and what you will make of this year depends on how you approach each new day and each new challenge.
Last week I introduced a challenge for the year to memorize a verse of Scripture each week. To make things easier, I have also offered to include a key verse from each week’s sermon to assist with your memorization. Doesn’t it seem like it is more likely for us to memorize something if we are all working on the same something to memorize? Yeah, I thought so, too!
As we are working through the sermon series No Other Gods this winter and Spring, many of the verses that I will present each week will help us fend off the idols that war for our hearts. It is the Scripture that is our Sword and, therefore, our surest weapon in spiritual warfare.
This week, the verse is Luke 16.13, which reads, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”[1]
First, (sermon spoiler for Sunday!!) notice that Jesus is operating on the social construct assumption that we will all serve something. We can look at forms of economics or governance and think about class systems. In reality, there is only on class of human and that is the class of servant. One may appear wealthy or powerful, but the heart serves something. Jesus let’s us know that it is either God or something else…not both.
Second, I want to help you memorize this passage. So, over the next few weeks, my plan is to introduce you to a few methods of memorizing Scripture. It is honestly your call as to what you use and how you make it work for yourself.
Broken repetition is the method I prefer. This is breaking the verse into bite sized pieces that I repeat and then put together. Here’s how it works with this verse:
- “No servant can serve two masters.” Now, repeat that 4 or 5 times at different speeds or in different voices.[2] The goal is to be able to say this section easily without looking or giving much thought to it.
- “For either he will hate the one and love the other,” This is repeated as well 4-5 times. Just like eating a sandwich, you want to be able to chew each bite properly. After you have repeated this phrase of the verse several times and can say it without much thought or effort, it is time to add it to the previous phrase. This step of putting the phrases together is vital. If you need to work on one or both of the sections again by themselves, go for it!
- “Or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other,” and repeat this as you did in the previous step. Use of voices or varying speed in repeating is a very helpful tool for me.
- Time for the last phrase, “You cannot serve God and wealth.” Repeat and add to the full verse.
- The last step is adding the address. It is important to know where you found this verse because random email from Pastor Evan won’t cut it!
I know the idea of memorizing Scripture can be a daunting task, but this exercise should have you memorizing a verse in about 10 minutes. I understand there can be variants in how we learn and strict repetition may not work for you. I hope that in the next couple of weeks that I can help you find something that assists you with locking the Word of God in you heart.
I am praying for you as you memorize this verse this week!
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) ©1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
[2] One of my favorite voices to use is Scooby Doo. Sometimes, I use TV voice over guy.
