My Goal for Summer 2012: Memorize the Book of James

I'm going to do it. I'm going to try to memorize the Book of James over the summer.

Ten years ago, when we hadn't been going to the Boise Vineyard for long, one of the pastors recited James. I will never forget how amazed I was, how wonderful it was to hear the words of this book (I consider it the "Book of Advanced Christianity") spoken from memory. They seemed to come from this man's heart, as if he really was James.

This morning, with memorization in mind, I read the first chapter of James in several different versions.

An aside: It's almost embarrassing, the number of Bibles I own. I have been given Bibles by the publishers I write for or have written for. I have bought others for myself because I've worn out a favorite Bible or because I wanted a particular translation or a particular study version or needed a small one for travel. (All of this in addition to my vast Logos Bible software.) I have also given away many, many new or gently used Bibles to local prison ministries and to a local women's and children's shelter. And yet my Bible shelf is still packed to the brim.

Anyway, after reading James 1 in the New American Standard (my preferred study Bible because it is one of the most literal, word-for-word translations), the English Standard Version (another word-for-word, though not quite as literal as the NASB), and the New Living Translation (a favorite dynamic equivalent translation for devotional reading), I opened the The Voice Bible (another dynamic equivalent translation). I reviewed The Voice in a past blog post. However, I was still amazed by how much I loved this version, how beautifully it renders the Scriptures into English, and I have decided it's the one I'm going to memorize.

Anybody care to join me? Pick your own version of the Bible, of course.

~robin

P.S. Here's a YouTube video of Psalm 23 from The Voice. Oh, the beauty of the Scriptures!

Comments

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[Cathy]

Robin with this challenge, I would think you would enjoy Beth Moore's new Bible study, James. Wonderful, of course, but one of her challenges was to memorize James. That was one that I did not even attempt :-( May the Lord bring a refreshing to you as you seek to honor Him in this way!

[Beth Goddard]

Robin,

I'm listening to the Daily Audio Bible every day with my children hoping to make it through the Bible with them. But memorizing a complete book might be an awesome Summer project. Is there a reason you picked the book James? Just wondering if that would be a good book for me and the kiddoes.

Beth

[Robin Lee Hatcher]

Several reasons I chose James, Beth. First, it is a book of advanced Christianity, and with the trials that come with life, one a believer needs to call upon and practice. Another reason, with five chapters, it is a reasonable length to memorize (or try to memorize!). In my travel Bible without study notes, it's about five pages. Third, I have heard it recited from memory and so that kind of encourages me.

All that said, I could easily have chosen some of Paul's epistles that are favorites: Galatians (7 pages); Ephesians (6 pages); Philippians (5 pages); or Colossians (4+ pages).

[Beth Goddard]

Thank for your reply, Robin. I read through it this afternoon. Maybe I can memorize this. . .I think there is a huge benefit in the effort. :)

[Robin Lee Hatcher]

Thanks, Cathy. I will plan to do the Beth Moore study, hopefully sooner rather than later. Because I do BSF through the school year and my church regularly teaches through books of the Bible, I can't add another study from mid-September to mid-May, so any Beth Moore studies have to be done between mid-May and mid-September. Limits how many summer studies I can do each year to one, occasionally two.

[Jackie S.]

Robin, what a great idea.....keep us updated on your progress! I would love to do that, but don't think I could do it!!