Store Up the Word

Ricky Ketchum

Apr 07, 2025

Don’t suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous temptation

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How can a young person maintain a pure life?

By guarding it according to your instructions. …
In my heart I store up your words,

so I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:9, 11 (NET)

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Here’s something I’ve always found fascinating:

When Jesus was about to begin His ministry, he spent 40 days out in the wilderness praying & fasting. And then the Enemy (a.k.a. the devil) came to tempt Him.

And what weapons of war did they sling at each other?

Not slings, arrows, spears, or physical swords …

Scripture.

The Bible is aptly named the sword of the Spirit. It is a weapon of attack against the temptations of the Enemy. And this verse from Psalms teaches us how we can guard our lives against spiritual attack. By storing up the Word in our hearts.

Scripture memory takes work.

Like any discipline of value, I have to put in effort in order to memorize verses.

I must keep a list of verses I want to memorize … write each one out on a note card (I use blank business cards) … spend a whole week reading and memorizing each verse 10+ times per day … keep the verses I have memorized on rotation for daily review.

Yeah, it’s a lot of work, but it really only takes me about 10 or 15 minutes a day.

Small trade for an ever-ready weapon to use against the Enemy.

Because an active duty soldier must always be prepared for battle.

— Ricky Ketchum

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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