Listen, Study, Remember, Quote

“Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body”

(Proverbs 4:20b-22 NLT, second edition).

The Bible says this about wisdom in Proverbs 22:17-18: “Listen, and I will teach you what the wise have said. Study their teachings, and you will be glad if you remember them and can quote them” (TEV). 

Notice the four verbs in that sentence: listen, study, remember, quote. Those are marks of wisdom.

You can’t just learn something and become wiser; you’ve got to remember it. And you can’t just remember it; you’ve got to reinforce it. Because if you don’t remember and reinforce it, you end up having to learn the same lesson over and over.

You have to retain it to remember it so you can review it so you can apply it.

People say, “I can’t remember anything!” Oh, yes you can. You remember what’s important to you. You remember what you love. You remember what matters to you.

For instance a lot of you say, “I can’t memorize the Bible.” But you remember every baseball or football statistic for the last season. Or you say, “I can’t remember the Bible,” but you can quote all kinds of lyrics to popular songs or every step to a favorite recipe or something else you care about. You remember what’s important to you.

If the truth becomes important to you, you will remember it. You will remember and you will rehearse it and you will reinforce it and you will review it in your life. Then, it can change your life.

“Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body” (Proverbs 4:20b-22 NLT, second edition).