Built-in Radar
MEMORIZING GOD’S WORD CREATES INNER RADAR FOR FINDING THE RIGHT WAY.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Psalm 119:97-105.
Verse of the Day: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105, NIV).
“Oh!” Tyler said excitedly to his mom, who sat next to him. “We’re in the clouds!”
Mom looked past her son and out the window of the airplane. Wispy strands of whiteness floated by the window. “We sure are!” she said.
“Mommy,” Tyler said, his eyes wide with trepidation, “are we going to crash?”
“No, sweetheart. Why would we crash?”
“Because the man who’s flying the plane can’t see where we’re going.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Tyler,” Mom said, “the pilot has a thing called ‘radar’ that tells him where he should go even when he can’t see.”
“Oh,” Tyler said. He smiled at his mom and then turned his face back toward the window to watch the clouds go by.
Mom watched him for a moment, then turned back to what she had been doing. She held a stack of index cards in her hands. On the front of each card was a Bible verse, and on the back was the verse reference. She would read or glance at a card, then try to recite the verse without looking at the hand-printed words on the card.
“Mommy,” Tyler said, interrupting her memorization efforts again, “what are you doing?” When she told him, he asked, “Why?”
She thought for a moment, trying to decide how to explain the importance of Scripture memorization to her young son. Finally, a thought came to her.
“You know how the pilot of this plane has radar so he can find his way even through clouds and darkness?” she asked.
Tyler nodded.
“Well, by memorizing Bible verses,” she said, showing him the cards, “I put parts of God’s Word in here,” she said, pointing to her temples with her index fingers. “That gives me a sort of built-in radar, so that even when things get foggy or dark in my mind or in my life, I can find the right way … by using God’s Word.”
“Oh,” Tyler said, seemingly satisfied. “Mommy?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Can your radar find my shoes?”
Mom looked down at Tyler’s feet. Both shoes were gone. She laughed. “I think I can do that myself,” she said, releasing her seat belt so she could search for Tyler’s shoes under the seats.
TO DISCUSS: How can memorizing God’s Word help you make right choices? How many Bible verses do you know by heart? Take turns renting Bible verses until someone is stumped. (Younger children can receive help or can recite the same verse more than once.)
TO PRAY: “Lord God, I need the ‘radar” that your Word and your Spirit provide to find my way each day.”