New Year's Resolution

In the past, New Year's resolutions revolved around health & fitness. Having a better relationship with God was somewhere on the list but I'll be honest, it wasn't at the top. I didn't set out to have a resolution of any kind but when I woke from my first night of resisting fear with the truth of the word of God, I knew that this was going to be my primary focus for 2011.

I woke elated that I had finally utilized the key to my deliverance and there was hope for victory in the months ahead if I continued to fight.

I described my experience to Shawn and the scriptures that had come to mind. Enjoying the slow New Year Day morning by the fireplace, I eagerly looked up the scripture references that had come to mind the night before and wrote them down. It turned out I had remembered parts of II Timothy 1:7, James 4:7, and Isaiah 26:3 (KJV)

I realized how much I had taken the accessibility of the bible for granted and how little scripture I had actually committed to memory that I could recall on demand. In the vulnerable hours between sleep and alertness, I needed to be able to recite God's truth and promises without turning on the light and reading the words.

I looked up Psalm 91 and as I read it, I felt comfort. I had memorized this passage of scripture as a teen. I need to be able to say these words when evil tries to twist my thoughts during the night and bully me into hopelessness.  There were other prominent passages too that I had known better in my past.

Before I knew it, I was outlining a two-year plan to memorize important sections of the bible every month. I had an inspiration to pair that memorization with the building of a Pandora necklace. Every month when the prescribed scripture was memorized, I would buy a Pandora charm with a symbol that matched the theme of the passage.

I was thrilled. My personality thrives on motivation & rewards. Beyond the spiritual benefit of arming myself with valuable truth, I could build a necklace of visual cues to help me recall the journey. Normally I don't enjoy memorizing anything but I was full of excitement to begin this series of study and recitation. No longer would I accept the lies that said, "I'm not good at memorizing." or "I don't have a good memory."