There's a lot to choose from...

"Our Father, Who art in heaven, 

hallowed be Thy name..."

Matthew 6:9

"And His name will be called 

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace"

Isaiah 9:6b

"We love Him because He first loved us"

1 John 4:19

"But He answered and said to them, 

'I tell you that if these should keep silent, 

the stones would immediately cry out' "

Luke 19:40

"He has shown thee, O man, what is good 

and what the Lord requires of thee:  

but to do justly, and to love mercy, 

and to walk humbly with your God"

Micah 6:8

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, 

and we beheld His glory"

John 1:14

"Those who wait on the Lord 

shall renew their strength.  

They shall mount up with wings as eagles;

 they shall run and not be weary, 

they shall walk and not be faint."

Isaiah 40:31

Do you know what these verses have in common?  Some come from the Old Testament, some from the New; they might be inspirational, or instructional, or hopeful, or heartwarming...  But the not-so-obvious common denominator is that these verses all belong to me.  And this is only a few of them.

Some of them create a picture in my mind that thrills me, or warms me.  Some of them tell me that He is the God of the Universe, omniscient, and all-powerful.  Others tell me that He is gentle and caring, my Father.    

Some of them I was instructed to learn, others I learned as a song, and they never left me.  Some of them remind me of where I was in my life when they became mine.  Some have been mine for so long, I can’t remember when they weren’t.

The Bible Study that I attend encourages us to memorizes verses of Scripture, but the first couple times there was a memory verse, I did not memorize it.  Doing the homework was challenging enough.  And no one follows every instruction they are given. Some directions are only for other people, right?  But after about the third one I ignored, God put on my heart that I had joined this Study for a reason, and that was to learn His Word.  And what better way to learn it, than to memorize it?  So the next verse we had, I decided to memorize.  And God rewarded me.  Because without warning, that was the very first time that our leader had brought in chocolates to give to anyone who had memorized the verse.  Maybe if she'd brought in chocolates sooner, I would have started memorizing sooner!  

Believing in God is not the same thing as knowing Him.  His Word must be in us.  We all have verses that we love.  Verses that thrill us, or comfort us.  But I am talking about more than memorizing verses, and more than just remembering them.  I am talking about claiming them.   

At first I didn’t realize I was doing this ~ claiming them.  I was reading a Christian magazine, and the verse the editor had chosen to make the subject of his column was Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.  And you shall be witnesses to me, in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the end of the earth.” and I thought, “Hey, cool!  That’s one of mine!” And the following summer, my daughter was in Vacation Bible School, and one of the memory verses she was given was Acts 1:8.  And I told her excitedly, “That’s one of mine!” And then she was given Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” And because it was hers, I claimed it, too.  When my husband and I were were dating, one of his favorites was Matthew 19:26, “With God, all things are possible”  And because it was his, I claimed it too.

And I don’t mean to say that I have memorized all these verses.  I don’t think that’s necessary.  God is not impressed with rote recitation. He simply wants us to make them ours.  And just because I memorize a verse, that doesn’t mean I have claimed it.  Perhaps the time is not right for it to find a place in my heart.  When I am ready, it will come to me.

My dictionary defines the word “keep” in several different ways, one of which is “to manage or have charge of; to adhere to or to fulfill.” This is what we mean when we say, God keeps His Word.  He fulfills it.  But another definition is “to retain possession of; to have as a supply”.  This is how we should keep His Word.  Luke 2:18-19 says, “And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.  But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”

Psalm 119:11 says, “Your Word have I hidden in my heart, that I  might not sin against You.”  And Deuteronomy 30:14 says, “But the Word is very near you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it.”  John 14:26 says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you.”  It’s a glorious promise. 

We must read His Word, and read it again.  And Learn it, and Love it and Claim it.  Because it is mine, and because it is yours, and because it is His.