During Bible times, the synagogue schools had a fun way to begin the studies of a child coming to school for the first time. There were two traditions that were part of the ceremony. For the first tradition, the rabbi wrote an important verse of scripture on the child’s slate and then covered it in honey. While it sounds strange to modern ears, the child was then read the verse and asked to repeat it several times. After the rabbi was confident the child had a beginning memory of the verse, the child was allowed to lick the honey off of the slate. Since honey was a special treat, the thinking was that the young child would associate memorizing scripture with the sweetness of honey (a literal acting out of Psalm 119:103).
After a brief ceremony, the child was then given honey cakes to eat which also had a scripture or two about the importance of knowing and reflecting upon scripture. This was meant to further reinforce the joy and importance they wanted the child to connect with memorizing scripture. This was especially important, because those same small children eventually memorized the first five books of the Bible and more!
It’s easy to dismiss the importance of scripture memory in our digital age, yet it is as important as it ever was. There will be many times in life when your students will need to make split second decisions. They won’t have the time to look for Bible verses that might be important to consider as they make their choice. They need to have important scriptures so deeply etched in their brains that they automatically come to mind when they are in situations to which those verses apply.
Make your Bible class a class that encourages memory work. Make sure passages are at least several verses long, because the added repeated practice needed to memorize them makes it more likely they will be stored in the student’s long term memory. Sing scripture songs in class, that have students memorizing scripture without even realizing it. Have short passages you periodically review in class as a group. Develop call and response habits where you call out the first part of a verse to get their attention and they call out the second half of the verse to prove they are listening. Display scripture art around your room. Have theme verses that you repeat so many times in class that when you even start the verse they all chime in, “we know, we know!” and quote the verse for you. Bring in honey cakes decorated with Bible verses (or sugar cookies).
Making memory work a priority in your Bible class takes extra time and effort, but it’s the best way to ensure God’s words are firmly etched on their hearts and minds.
