As I get older, I realize more and more the value of memory even as it gets harder to remember things.  Over time, we have more stored in our memory from our past, including many treasured moments, but also thoughts of troubled times.  But it can also be harder to remember at all.  It’s like there’s no more room!  In my teens, I could often read a Bible verse only once and recite it accurately from memory citing chapter and verse.  Now, I too often feel like the author of Hebrews, who wrote in Hebrews 4:4-5:

“For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.’  And again in this passage he said, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

These verses have to do with the rest God provides His people, but did you also notice that the writer didn’t remember where his own Old Testament quotations came from?  They came from “somewhere” and “in this passage.”  This means that we can all benefit from Scripture even with an imperfect memory, not remembering chapter and verse.  We shouldn’t be discouraged by our memory but should instead work to apply what we know as the writer of Hebrews did.

Also, I’ve heard people (even younger people) say things like this: “when I study the Bible, I don’t remember what I read, so why bother reading it?”  I once heard an illustration about this.  Imagine pouring water into a wicker basket.  The water passes through it, right?  So what’s gained by pouring water into something that doesn’t hold it?  However, think about what the water does to the basket.  It’s cleaner after it’s been drenched with water!  Likewise, even if we don’t retain all, or even most, of what we learn in our Bible study, at least our souls are cleaner as a result.  God doesn’t need us to remember everything in order to do His work in us.

So, even if we only know God’s word from “somewhere,” at least we know it and at least it can help us follow Him more faithfully. Don’t be discouraged if your memory isn’t what your memory tells you that it once was.  And don’t be discouraged if you can’t recall everything you study, because God says “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

God doesn’t expect us to be perfect.  He’s already accomplished that for us!