This summer, our youth group had a Bible Verse Memorization Challenge where I invited the teens to memorize 10 passages from the Bible. I also participated in the challenge. As I was working on the verses, I would focus in on one and whisper it to myself in pieces over and over.
There is a scene in Indian Jones and the Last Crusade (aka the best one) where Indy is about to go into a cave filled with unknown dangers. He has his father’s notebook filled with clues on how to safely navigate the traps. The clue for the first obstacle is “The penitent man will pass.” Indiana says this over and over to himself as he is walking up to the cave entrance. “The penitent man is humble before God.” He keeps mumbling it over and over, working out the meaning. As he is saying it over and over, he works out that “The penitent man… The penitent man is humble. Penitent man… kneels before God. Kneel!” At the last second, he kneels and summer-saults past a couple of blades that were designed to take off the head of the unwary trespasser.
Romans 6:1-4 was one of the passages on the memorization list, and one that was a little more difficult for me (Thanks, Paul, for your run-on sentences). But because I had to repeat it over and over, and break it down into smaller pieces, I was able to analyze each part and draw out new appreciation for what is written about being “buried, therefore, with [Christ], by baptism, into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” I’ve read this passage a dozen times before, but I’ve never taken the time to really ‘chew the fat’ about the deep meaning of baptism that Paul is writing about. All the verses that I’ve spent time memorizing take have taken on deeper meaning since I have been repeating them over and over like Indiana Jones about to enter the cave.
Our lives are filled with unseen dangers up ahead. And we have been given and notebook filled with wisdom for how to safely navigate our path. It is incumbent upon us to learn the scriptures and meditate on them day and night so that we can draw out the meaning and application in our lives.
And remember, the penitent man kneels before God!