Uncluttering the Heart

STORING IT UP

As you read this blog, keep in mind I grew up in a time when we were taught to memorize Scriptures by writing them on index cards and carrying them in our purses. Housewives, mothers, and women of all ages were writing Scriptures on cards and putting them on refrigerators, mirrors, and sticky notes throughout the house, to help them memorize them. Only in the last couple of years have I returned to this type of burning desire to read, study, memorize, and meditate on the Word of God the way I used to. It was so easy to start because Target had these cute little index cards on key rings for students to help memorize things they needed to know for school. They were so inconvenient though. Cards would rip out, or the key ring and cards would get buried in my purse, or I would take a different purse. Imagine my delight to find the android telephone system has a widget that pops me up a new bible verse every morning with whatever photograph I have put with it on the widget. To make it even better, it stays visible on the screen all day and doesn't take up the whole screen! I left my iphone for it! There are times it has been annoying, and then there are times it has just kind of made me remember days gone by as I have reflected on God's Word; today was one of those days.

The verse on the screen this morning was Psalm 119:11 and read, "I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You." It's so funny because re-reading that verse throughout the day has just brought a constant visual of our garage to my mind. It's full!!!!! I don't know how much more we can possibly put in there, but my husband keeps finding room. The girls will ask us to pack stuff up, tell us they don't have any more room, and ask us to store it for them. Daddy just gets another box and loads it up. They are all such a sentimental bunch, I think Kris likes to hang on to the stuff and reopen it down the road as much as they do! Consequently, they are all very annoyed when it has been in the garage for a year and the day after I get rid of the box, they ask me for something in it. I like to keep things uncluttered; therefore, I clean house. The rule is, if you haven't missed it over the last year, then you don't need it anymore! Understanding Psalm 119:11 becomes quite a challenge for me, the person who likes things uncluttered :)

"Stored up" comes from the original Hebrew word for hid, which is tsaphan, meaning to treasure and hide from discovery. WOW!!!!!! This means I am to collect the "Word of God" and put them away in a safe, like we see in the old movies. You know the ones I'm talking about! The movies where the rich ladies live in these fancy houses, owning a lot jewelry and keeping it locked in a wall safe behind a portrait or piece of art, or sometimes hidden in the safe under the floorboards, or behind the headboard of the bed. They are afraid if it is left out in the open, then they will get robbed. Shouldn't I feel the same sort of value, prize, and desire to protect and guard of the Word of God that has been deposited within me? YES! YES! and YES! I certainly should. Each time I read the word, I am given yet another jewel as the Holy Spirit ministers life, strength, joy, peace, hope, comfort, and so much more to me. Sometimes it is meant to address where I currently find myself, sometimes it is linked to things He has brought me through, and sometimes it is to anchor me with hope in the days to come. Nevertheless, no matter how I look at it, it is VALUABLE and needs to be safeguarded so it cannot be stolen! The bible talks about how the enemy of God comes and steals away the Word which has been sown in the heart of the one who fails to understand it. To "safe keep" and "guard" the jewels of the Word in me, I must have an understanding of the Word and what God is saying to me. Understanding is different than knowledge because it means to the ability to and obedience to apply the Word God has given me! It is not enough just to "know" the Word! This is just the mere formality of owning a beautiful piece of jewelry and then casually taking it off at the end of the night and leaving it out in the open on the dresser, careless with its care, and left for anyone to walk away with. IF I am understanding the Word sown into my life, then I am an individual who has heard and obeyed the Word God has ministered to me, it has changed me. In this, it is placed within a Holy vault and locked away from theft of the enemy. This, my friend, is what it means to "store up" the Word of God!