Keeping in Memory - I Corinthians 15:1-8

I know you may have looked at the scripture reference today and thought, "I Corinthians? That's not James..."

This is one of the first scriptures that Moore uses in the study. She doesn't jump right into the book of James, but uses these scriptures to provide some background. She focusses on verses 5-8, which list the various people who saw Jesus physically after his resurrection.

However, something else in this passage jumped out at me as I was reading it. Verse 1-2.
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you that gospel which I reached unto you, which also ye have received, and werein you stand; By which also ye are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain."

The Apostle Paul urged his reader to "keep in memory" what he had told them. This would have been extremely important in the ancient world, where most people probably could not read, and even those who could probably did not have a copy of Paul's letters there at hand to read. These letters would have been read out loud in a church, providing encouragement to the listeners. They weren't available to take home and peruse. So, anything you wanted to remember, it had to be memorized.

The final level of participation is to memorize the book of James. That may seem like a daunting task. Some know immediately "THAT'S what I want to do"...others may know for a fact that it's something they simply do not have the time to do, based on many other good activities and commitments in their life, and that's fine.

But there are some who are sitting on the fence...thinking "That sure would be neat, but I just don't know..." or "Well, if I had time," or "If I knew how to memorize...but I don't". You're trying to decide if that committment is right for you.

This post is for you. I'd like to encourage you, if you haven't made up your mind one way or the other, to give it a try. ESPCIALLY if your reason for not doing so runs along the lines of, "I can't."

Paul says "keep in memory what I have preached".

The Psalmist said:
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11)

In Deuteronomy, the command is given:
Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul (Deuteronomy 11:18a)

All through scripture, an emphasis is put on memorizing of God's word. God expects us to memorize His words. He would never command us to do something that we don't have the capacity to do. He will give us the ability if we are doing something in faith to follow one of His commands.

So...if you're fence-sitting, and the fence you are sitting on is made out of fenceposts of "can't", then get off the fence and give the memorizing a try.

I'm not trying to guilt anyone into memorizing. Beth doesn't...I certainly won't. If you know you don't have time to memorize the whole book, then that's just fine. I'd still ecourage you to memorize some of the verses. Whatever stands out as being something particularly applicable to you. As Beth says in her first session, "A little Word is better than no Word."