December Daily {:29:} Bible Memorization

This morning, while I was at the X's, I finished reading a book of theirs called 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart.  For the past few years, I've written in December about choosing a Bible reading plan for the following year.  (You can read those posts HERE and HERE.  Or you can read a great article with several reading plan suggestions HERE.)  I'd already decided that this year, as people are thinking about New Year's Resolutions, to write about Bible memorization, and since I finished that book today, it seemed like today is a good day to write about that.

Beginning back in (maybe?) 2009, I had been using an index card booklet on a ring to memorize and review verses.  Back in February, when I quit Facebook, I decided I needed to replace it on my phone with something else, and decided on a Bible memorization app, since the index cards were cumbersome.  I tried out a few different apps over several months until I settled on two that I have been using since June and I love both.

One is Fighter Verses (by John Piper's church), and it's awesome.  Worth every single penny.  You can choose between different themes.  It gives you a verse a week with a bunch of different ways to go about memorizing it...including songs!  It's very fun.  I believe there might even be a kid version if you want to memorize verses with your children.  I use this app to add a verse a week to my repertoire.

The other app I use is called Scripture Typer.

It's probably the most expensive app I've ever bought (around $5).  I like this one because it helps me learn new verses, and prompts me to review old verses, and I can choose which Bible translation I want to memorize in: including in French!  I can make categories, and just review in them when I want.  I created a "This Week" category that I use daily to learn new verses.

With this app, I've been able to stay on top of my previously memorized verses, while constantly putting new ones into my head and heart.   Each time you correctly review a verse, it adds one day to the amount of time until you review again.  So when I've reviewed John 3:16 twenty times, I won't be prompted again for 21 days, and after that, 22 days.  You can see from the photo below that I didn't review for a few days while on vacation...oops.

So...if you're thinking about New Year's Resolutions, I encourage you (as always) to consider finding a Bible reading plan that works for you, AND...to consider beginning to be methodical and diligent about memorizing the Word of God.  He will use it to speak to you, to speak through you to others, and guide and protect you, and to encourage you.  I'm so thankful for the new technologies that make it easy and fun!  I really do love the Scripture Typer app and recommend it to anyone with a smart phone!  If you don't have a smart phone, then try finding a method that works for you (index cards?) and a plan to stay on top of it!

And...if anyone is wondering (for my December Daily) what I did today...I hung out some more with Mr. and Mrs. X, who drove me home to Marseille in the afternoon.  I unpacked, began sorting through everything from my trip, including downloading all my photos to my computer.  I'll begin editing and hopefully posting some tomorrow.  Lastly, I'm hoping to Skype with my family tonight.  I'll watch a movie and quilt until they get online.  Isn't vacation a wonderful thing?