Heart Written

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Whenever I’m asked to do a funeral, I always want to look at a Bible owned by the deceased. You can tell a lot about a person from that. It’s been said that “A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone whose life is not.” If the cover is pristine and the pages crackle as if they’d never been turned, that’s not a good sign. But what I’m really looking for is notes, underlining, and highlights. They usually tell me a great deal about someone’s faith.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to imply that if someone doesn’t mark up their Bible they are somehow not a Christian, or not faithful. Lots of kids were strictly forbidden from marking in any book (got a few of those spankings my own self), and that’s a hard barrier to cross. One way around that is to keep a ledger of Bible readings and especially those times when God speaks deeply to your heart from His Word. That’s a treasure beyond compare to your heirs, as they discover things about your walk of faith and your prayer life that they might not have otherwise known.
Trouble is, for a while now I’ve been using electronic Bibles for study. It’s possible to highlight text, but I don’t find myself using it in the same way, and electronic devices can fail leaving you with only your memories (and a fair amount of anguish). Which made me think of Hansel and Gretel.
Not the gingerbread house or the witch who was going to eat them, but the trail of bread crumbs - easy to leave, hard to keep safe. When you get right down to it, even marking a physical Bible has its risks. They can get lost or damaged or be inaccessible, inconvenient to carry around.
That’s why God says to write them on your heart.
I know, I know: “I have trouble remember-izing stuff. It’s hard!” Sure it is, which helps make it more precious when you discipline yourself to do it. Plus (and this should be a big bonus to those of us approaching Old Timers) memorizing Scripture (putting your mind to work) may actually help stave off dementia. Not to mention, if it’s in our hearts it’s easier to find when we need it. And we will need it in this fallen world!
I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You. Psalm 119:11