At the moment it seems as if I'm getting an email from Apple pretty much every day with news of the new iPad or iPhone4...so far I have resisted clicking on the 'Buy Now' button! But some of you no doubt use an iPhone or iPod Touch or maybe even an iPad - or maybe something similar made by someone else.We are nearly halfway through the year (this is week 23 - we reach the halfway point at the end of the month), and for those of you who have been memorising the weekly Bible verses printed on our church notice sheet, that means you should now have 23 verses memorised.
But memorising Bible verses takes effort. Those of you who are going through exams at the moment will know that it is possible to memorise something for tomorrow's exam, but you will have forgotten it all in two days time! To memorise Bible verses and keep them memorised is a discipline that requires going over verses again and again and again, and then reviewing the older verses regularly so that they remain accessible and at your finger tips.
In the past, in the days when I used a PDA, (before reverting back to pen and paper - neither of which need a battery or are likely to crash) I had a great program produced by Laridian that helped with memorising Bible verses. Once the verses were entered you could check you knew them by typing the first letter of each word. And if you got totally stuck there was a 'hint' button. Now I simply use little cards with the verses written on them!
But for those of you who sleep with your iPad under your pillow, or who don't go out without your iPhone why not look up an app that will help you memorise the Bible? Do a search on 'Bible Memory Verses' in the apps store. I haven't tried any of these out so can't make a personal recommendation but there are a number to choose from. Some of these apps are free, but you might have to pay a bit for some of the better ones, or to have one that includes a modern translation such as the NIV.
An apple a day might not keep the doctor away, and neither will memorising a verse of the Bible a week - but over the years, it will be time and effort that you will not regret.
