LISTEN to these quick Audio Tips from Pam's book Ablaze

The almost too practical Bible reading tip:

Quality time is good but you also need quantity:

Go with Your Strengths

There is no denying that as we age, things like memorizing Scripture get harder. When I was young, I honestly thought age was a lame excuse adults gave for not memorizing. Now I know the truth. The older you get, the harder memorizing becomes.

That fact, however, is not an excuse to stop memorizing. It just means that we need to be a little smarter and a little more diligent in how we go about it.

Think about baseball for a minute. Young pitchers with 25-year-old arms strike out their prey by rearing back and throwing 100-mile an hour heat past their chins. Yes, there is skill involved, but there is also the pure strength of youth, the grand advantage of being at the prime age for the activity pursued. The spongy brains of kids are like the 25-year old pitcher who can mow people down out of sheer strength.

Now before you throw your hands up and say, "So there you have it, I'm too old!" I have two words for you: Greg Maddux. Young baseball pitchers do much of the job with raw material, but as pitchers age, they compensate with smarts. Forever-Cub-in-my-heart Greg Maddux is the perfect example. Toward the end of his career, Maddux had a fastball with the velocity of a lame dog, but he continued to strike out the best batters in the world and win games based on his smarts. He compensated for his natural physical decline by doing things differently, by playing smarter and going with his strengths.

We have to do the same thing when we memorize with older brains, go about doing the job in a smart way that leverages what we've got. I know you're thinking, "What on earth does that look like?" Well, instead of giving you a bunch of rules, I want to give you a chance to jump in and try it!

A perfect passage to set yourself up for success is Hebrews 11. Why? Patterns, train of thought, and relevance. It's like hitting the outside corner instead of blasting a 100-mile an hour fastball down the middle of the plate. If you're not a baseball person, just trust me on the metaphor. ;)

Patterns . . . Hebrews 11 has a more consistent pattern than a zebra! Of the 40 verses in Hebrews 11, almost half of them begin with the phrase "By faith." Can't remember how the next verse starts? Play the odds!

Train of Thought . . . Here is where those of us who are a little older play to our strengths. Hebrews 11 summarizes the main storyline of the Old Testament. If we already know that, we already know the basic outline of the chapter. When you understand the train of thought, the individual words come more easily.

Relevance . . . Hebrews 11, from beginning to end, paints a picture of faith lived out! It is not the stuff of sterile commands, but flesh and blood examples of doing the life of faith. The more compelling and relevant the material, the more easily you will remember it. Hebrews 11 is relevant every minute of every day.

Sweeter than Chocolate

In six brief lessons you will journey through the Bible’s greatest Psalm devoted to the theme of the Word of God. Discover insights, practical wisdom, and deep truths that will strengthen your walk and relationship with Jesus Christ in Sweeter than Chocolate!

If you haven’t studied Psalm 119 with me in Sweeter than Chocolate! I sure hope you’ll prayerfully consider this as Bible studies kick off at your church this fall! God’s Word is sweet . . . and we need to do our part to spread that word about the Word!