The reason memorizing Scripture is important is that remembering God's word during the day is a matter of defeat or victory.
— John Piper (@JohnPiper) June 30, 2012
One of the more creative and practical ways that has come out was the Memory Moleskine by Timmy Brister. A couple years ago he wrote about how he divided the book of Ephesians into several weeks' worth of memorization, printed out the text and glued it into a moleskine so he could add his own journaling notes. Last year it became a group effort when Brister and The Resurgence put out a more polished PDF of Philippians that broke up the book into 4 months (January 1 to Easter Sunday) so that everyone on the internet with a moleskine could "partner together" to learn and meditate on the togetherness-servanthood of the church in light of Christ's sacrifice.
We've reached the halfway point of 2012 and if you're like me then you have long ago disappointed yourself with your New Year's reading/memorizing goals. Take heart, because by the end of 2012 you can memorize all of Galatians and become enamored with the Gospel. I put together my own homemade PDF you can download here:
Memorize Galatians in 24 Weeks
You should be able to print the document out and fit the columns into a medium-sized Moleskine (check out the Philippians link above for details on how to put it together). The last few pages are the same tips that The Resurgence provided, summarizing Andy Davis' popular extended memorization plan. If you just want the schedule, then here is what you can memorize each week to get all the way through (Remember, review is the key, every day! But there are extra weeks for catch-up and review):
(Week 1) Galatians 1:1-10
(Week 2) Galatians 1:11-20
(Week 3) Galatians 1:21-2:5
(Week 4) Galatians 2:6-14
(Week 5) Galatians 2:15-21
(Week 6) Galatians 3:1-9
(Week 7) Galatians 3:10-16
(Week 8) Galatians 3:17-23
(Week 9) Galatians 3:24-29
(Week 10) – Review 1-9
(Week 11) Galatians 4:1-7
(Week 12) Galatians 4:8-14
(Week 13) Galatians 4:15-20
(Week 14) Galatians 4:21-27
(Week 15) Galatians 4:28-5:3
(Week 16) Galatians 5:4-12
(Week 17) Galatians 5:13-21
(Week 18) Galatians 5:22-26
(Week 19) Galatians 6:1-6
(Week 20) Galatians 6:7-12
(Week 21) Galatians 6:13-18
(Week 22) – Review weeks 11-21
(Week 23) – Recite weeks 1-22
(Week 24) – Meditate, Pray, and Rejoice!
If you look at the length of the text or the number of verses per week, you can tell I slightly front-loaded the work - if you start today, half the book will be done by Labor Day. This was intentional for three reasons. I assume most of us have a slightly less busy life in the summer and can spend a little more time on Scripture Memory. Also, when I start a new project most of my good energy comes at the front so I will want to memorize more earlier. Finally, it's easier to memorize more early because there is less to review.
I included a black title page if you wanted to put something on the front of your journal. Brister had a catchy title for the Philippians work, "Partnering to Remember," that matched both the intent of the memory project and a major theme of the letter. I tried thinking of a similar catchy title for memorizing Galatians but came up blank - "Gospeling Galatians," "Grounding in Faith,"... Nothing really fits. What do you think?
