Book Review: 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know By Heart - Highly Recommend

Although I haven't made as much conscious effort to memorize Scripture as I should, I probably do have a large number of verses memorized (well over 100, given all the choruses I learned as a child and the constant repetitions of verses heard from my father's pulpit). Still, I know I can and should do better (especially at memorizing the locations of the verses). I fully believe that the time will come when I will need to have Bible verses at the ready to steel against religious persecution and hardship. Moreover, I need to prepare my children for possible eventualities. Even if they never face persecution, they will surely come across difficulties in life where the application of Scripture could mean all the difference.

100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know By Heart, by Robert J. Morgan, provides not only a list of 100 key verses to carry as ammunition in the battle against spiritual oppression, but it also gives a powerful argument for the importance of Scripture memorization and potent tips for how to incorporate it into your life. This is a book I would happily purchase because the author weaves in stories among the introduction to each verse and it would be best consumed on a daily basis over the space of a few months, rather than in one fell swoop (as I attempted to tackle it, since it was a library book and the due date was set in stone - how encouraging that there is a hold list for this book). Indeed, it would make a highly effective devotional to devote a third or quarter of a year to the daily digestion and memorization of the Scriptures outlined in this book.

Like all habits, Scripture memorization demands repeated practice and review. But I think the payoff is sufficient to make it a far more important habit than even the habits of making one's bed or brushing one's teeth. I made a list of verses from this book and introduced the idea to Trevor along with an incentive (I feel it is worth $1 per verse for a boy who is always eager to make money, while my husband's opinion is more that the memorization is something the boy should do without incentive). Not surprisingly, Trevor began with the two easiest verses to memorize: 1 Thessalonians 5:16 and 17 - 16) "Rejoice always!" and 17) "Pray constantly." Hopefully, he will not grow weary of it when the verses demand more diligent effort.

I appreciated the extra text surrounding each verse. At one point, discussing the verse about Christ being "the way, the truth, and the life," the author quoted Thomas a Kempis who said, "Without the way, there is no going; without the truth, there is no knowing; without the life, there is no living." For the verse about "casting all your care upon Him," he provided a simple acronym to memorize, as well: C - Commit your situation, A - Ask for wisdom, S - Surrender to His will, and T - Trust Him. For the "cheerful giver" verse, he quoted Charles H. Spurgeon: "Earn all you can, save all you can, and then give all you can. Never try to save out of God's cause; such money will canker the rest. Giving to God is no loss; it is putting your substance into the best bank."

I highly recommend this book to any Christian who wants to fortify themselves with Scripture. Obviously, there are far more than 100 verses in the Bible that are worthy of memorization, but this book highlights some of the greats and allows you to add your own favorites and make your own list at the end. With over 31,000 Bible verses at our disposal, surely there are plenty that warrant the commitment to memory. As Morgan argues: "Scripture memory is a way of digging into the soul and planting the truth a little deeper in order to achieve a richer harvest. Yes, it's a lost habit among most people; but losing it is like an explorer losing his map or a nation losing her constitution."