Your Word I Have Hidden in My Heart

I was on the streetcar in Bucharest, Romania, returning from a missionary visit. The journey was long, but I enjoyed a special surprise along the way.

A poorly dressed young man boarded the tram and began to recite Luceafărul, a very long Romanian poem of ninety-eight verses written by renowned Romanian poet Eminescu. Everyone listened with amazement as we watched his flawless rendition, which left many in tears. I thought, How nice it would be to know whole pages of Scripture by heart! There would be little room for the enemy to sow his tares! I used to memorize biblical texts, but now I’ve set my sights higher and have begun to learn whole psalms and paragraphs from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. As a mother I made it a point to help my children at a young age memorize Bible verses after I read about the way Barry Black’s mother taught him. When he was thirteen, Barry had to memorize, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent” (Proverbs 1:10, NKJV). That very day two young men in the neighborhood asked him to help them “give a spanking” to another boy. Barry recounted that he remembered the memorized text and refused to accompany them. The next day he learned the two boys had not only beaten the other young man but had killed him. Though one of the two young men confessed to Barry that it was his friend who was the murderer, they were both arrested and sentenced to prison.

Barry’s memorizing and practicing Proverbs 1:10 saved him from prison. Today Barry Black is the sixty-third chaplain of the United States Senate and, to date, the only Seventh-day Adventist to hold this position. By storing up in our minds the marvelous promises of God, we prepare effective weapons to defeat Satan’s schemes.

When we no longer have our Bibles, we will be able to recall all we have memorized. “None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.”* Let us make it our daily goal to gather pearls of dew from the meadow of Scripture and store them in the cup of a pure mind, from which heavenly glory will spring forth to enlighten those around us.

Magdalena Toma

* Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press®, 1911), 593.