When I was a little girl, I treasured many objects, trinkets that I had received as gifts or special self-gifts that I had saved to purchase.  One such “trinket” was my cap gun.  This “treasure” had given me hours of play, as my brother Ron and I hid behind walls, play-shooting at each other & underneath rooflines, playing cowboys and Indians time and again, winning and losing life, all in the game of playing.  We only had one hip hostler, so we took turns wearing it.  When my brother took his turn, I placed my “treasured six-shooter” in my waistline.  When I held “my treasured cap-gun” within my hands, I felt powerful;  when I placed it inside my waistline belt, I felt strong; when I raised it up in my hands to fire, I felt unconquerable; and whenever caps could be afforded so that “my treasure” actually smoked and created a sound, I felt invincible.

• That was when I was nine.
• That was in the 70s when I was a child living the best life on our Indiana farm.
• That was when it was “cool” for me to run shirtless through the summer days, when my only question was:  If God is real and so powerful, why didn’t He make me a boy?
• That was when mom shared the Bible with me, explaining why God created us in the way that He desired us to be.
• That was when boys’ toys were so much better than my sister’s girl toys.
• That was when my mom sat me down and said, “Nancy if God wanted you to be a boy, He would have made you one.” &
• That was when her answer appeased my inner soul.
• That was six years before I came to personally know Jesus Christ as my Savior.

What We Do & What We Hide & What We Memorize—Matters!

There was a day that summer when we traveled to Kentucky for a vacation at my grandparents’ farm.  For whatever reason, my beloved six-shooter had to remain at home hidden away in my dresser drawer.  When we returned home that summer night, immediately, we knew something was awry.  Dad parked the car and said, “Stay here.”  He never said those two words before when we returned from a forever-long car journey, but we obeyed and watched through the back window as my dad walked up the sidewalk toward our back door.  Always in the past, dad pulled out his house keys to unlock the backdoor;  that day, the door swung easily open with a slight push.

When my dad stepped inside, my heart jumped to my throat.

When my dad disappeared from sight, my eyes ran toward the front seat of the car to my mother’s face.

I knew something horrible was unfolding.

An eternity later, my dad emerged from the house and walked toward us, obediently sitting in the car, just as we were told.

His words shook my internal senses:  “We’ve been robbed, and it looks like they may be coming back for another load.”

• FEAR IS REAL!
• I WAS AFRAID.
• I WAS SCARED.
• I WANTED TO SEE WHAT THEY HAD TAKEN.
• OUR POSSESSIONS ALL SEEMED TO BE MISSING, & ONLY SOME OF THE FURNITURE REMAINED.
• I NEEDED TO RUN UPSTAIRS TO SEE IF MY “TREASURE” WAS STILL HIDDEN INSIDE MY DRESSER DRAWER WHERE I HAD PLACED IT SEVEN DAYS AGO.

“You can go in, but don’t move anything.  Jean, call the police.  We’ve been robbed!”

Obediently we did just as my dad commanded, and I moved toward the stairway, seeing the emptiness of our house, noticing where our things once existed, and seeing many of our remaining household objects neatly stacked in the front living room near the front door—awaiting removal (or as we know it to be true—THEFT!).

What We Do & What We Hide & What We Memorize—Matters!

• Have we ever considered why we treasure God’s Word?
• Have we ever really attempted to “hide it in our hearts”?
• Have we ever thought about how the Word of God keeps us from sinning against God?

Consider how much space we hold within our memory.

• Do we think it’s so vast that our memory-space will not be filled?
• Do we think it’s so vast that we can hold tons of silliness and still retain space for the Word of God?
• Do we think it’s so vast that we have memorized “ENOUGH” if someone ever stole away the only Bible we could ever own?
• Do we think we have really stored & retained “ENOUGH” of God’s Word? within us?
• Have we “hidden it away” in our hearts as we should?
• Have we really pondered what we would do if all of the copies of the Bible were totally lost?
• Would we be able to survive in only what we have stored within our brains, our memories?
• Would we be able to quote the Scripture as well as we should, if the Bible had to be quoted from what we have stored within our brains?

During the month of July, I have encountered:

• A vast lostness of souls.
• A society unconcerned with Holy God.
• A world of sexual immorality.
• A time and place where I spoke a lie to conceal my heart.
• A day of conviction when the Holy Spirit spoke to my inner being.     &

During this month of July, I have also encountered a time of repentance for my sin.

• A day of explaining with him how I had confessed my sin to God, asking Him to forgive me.
• A day of talking with another, explaining my lie.
• A moment of swallowing my pride and asking this one to forgive me of my lie.
• A time of receiving forgiveness—the forgiveness of this one & of Almighty God.

During these last days of July, I have also encountered this truth:

• When we hold “the treasured Word of God” within our hands, we are powerful in His might.
• When we place “the treasured Word of God” inside our hearts, we are strong in Him.
• When we raise up “the treasured Word of God” before mankind, we are unconquerable because of God.  &
• Whenever we are afforded the opportunity to share “the treasured Word of God” with others so that they can HEAR GOD & SEE HIS WORD, we are invincible within our Father’s will.

What We Do & What We Hide & What We Memorize—Matters!