In his book, The War of Art, Steven Pressfield talks about the importance of doing the work that has been given you—day-in and day-out—and the power of discipline in the process. Pressfield states, “The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.” And then goes on to address something our society would do good to examine: “We must do our work for its own sake, not for fortune or attention or applause.” In a world bent on questions of how to get famous and how to do so quickly, Pressfield’s words on art and what it means to pursue your work aren’t the most encouraging. Why? Because to do your work each day with persistence, all without the promise of praise or fame, is a slow and potentially disheartening process. Similar to the artist’s way of simply showing up, Christians are called to a similar set of disciplines—some of which include scripture memory, meditation, and/or evangelism.

Over the next five to ten years, the Church will be forced to ask some big questions about the aims of each respective institution—the local church—and its direction.

To prevent any sort of denominational rabbit hole, let’s instead examine the state of Church in America. What does the local church value? How do we, as Christians, interact with the local church each week? Where have we seen the church do well—both domestically and internationally? And with that being said, how has the Church gotten away from what Followers of Christ were initially instructed to pursue: to go and make disciples.

These kinds of questions are questions I’d like to examine in the following post. The goal is to walk away thinking about how to turn toward a different kind of discipline. A discipline centered on God’s Word, promises, and Son in the process of spiritual growth and daily centering. Although it’s fun to consider how to get famous, there is really only one person who achieved an eternal kind of fame. His name was Jesus. And he achieved such fame through sitting down every day before the God of the Universe.

How to Read the Bible and the Power of Scripture Memory

We’re going to keep the first part of that equation—on how to read the bible—fairly short. Essentially, the way to read your bible is to read your bible. I know, I know. It’s a revolutionary thought. But consider what we give our thoughts and mental energy over to each day.

• Television
• Cell Phones
• Exercise
• Music
• Work
• Daydreaming
• Reading Books
• Podcasts

But to carve out just a few minutes a day might be pivotal in not just your spiritual growth, but your emotional health. You don’t need to read full books at a time (though you can!) and you don’t need to memorize full passages of scripture (though you can!), but it’s just important you begin. If you need help memorizing your first verse or set of verses, consider our Membands in-stock! They provide a selection of easy verses to memorize.

But the reason we’re passionate about scripture memory isn’t for the sake of memorization itself. The reason we’re passionate about the Word of God is because we are called to meditate on God’s word day and night.

Scripture Meditation and Bible Verses to Consider

Consider the words in Psalm 1:

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Emphasis mine).

To meditate on God’s Word day and night seems like a far cry from modern reality, but it’s not. God’s Word is near to us—it might reside on a desk or table in our home. Yet how close are we truly to the words spoken in that book? How might we quell anxieties and worries about the future? How might we mourn differently by turning to Truth instead of a substance or set of bad habits?

After re-launching Membands as a product line, we came across the verse that serves as a foundation for our mission. So foundational, in fact, that we placed Deuteronomy 6:8 at the foundation (footer) of our website.

What was so important about God’s Commandments that God himself commanded Moses and his people to tie them as symbols on hands and bind them on foreheads? In 2 Timothy 3:16, we get a glimpse as to why, thousands of years before Paul penned encouragement to Timothy, God gave Moses the wild-yet-practical encouragement to take scripture everywhere.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

When you realize it’s not the quantity of bible verses you memorize, but the quality of the few or even many you memorize, then you are one step closer to, like the preceding words in Psalm 1 state, “a tree planted by streams of water.”

When How to Be Famous Isn’t Enough

I am overwhelmed at how my nieces and nephews . . . all they want to be when they grow up is a YouTuber. Note that I’m not surprised per se but I am overwhelmed. And I know it’s not just my nieces and nephews but a bulk of Gen Z adolescents and surely future generations to come. So many desire fame and self-aggrandizement—it’s baked into their brains before the neural pathways in their mind even stand a chance.

Thus, a slow and incessant nagging that might persist for years is born.

Lest we pick on younger generations, there are plenty of Millenial and Boomer-type roll models who have paved the way for up-and-coming generations to desire recognition and beg the question: how to be famous in a world where it might just be one viral video or TikTok or Tweet or Gram or Post or Selfie away?

Millions of words and time spent behind screens all convey a similar longing—to be known.

Yet in a few thousand words, God reassured us we are known. And loved. And we’re enough just the way we are. To pursue that reality everyday does take a certain amount of discipline. Because in an age of distraction, if you lift your head up for more than a few seconds . . . you might just as well be on to the next thing.