Deuteronomy 17:19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

My oldest daughter loves the movie “The Princess Bride”. She has watched in over and over and over again. She recites the actors lines as or just before the delivered lines in the movie. It is impressive. But it isn’t a matter of determined memorization.

The way the brain works is in making impressions within the memory cortex which deepen with every reoccurrence. Dr. Keith Lamb put it like this, “Repetition is the price of knowledge.” The repetitive act of watching the movie multiple times deepened the impressions within her brain.

The bible is a rather large book. I’ve read it from cover to cover twice. I have not read it enough in order to recite it word for word. I have read some parts of it more than others. Romans chapter 8 has been revisited many times. Why? Because I love the words I found there.

The encouragement in Deuteronomy 17:19 is “to keep all the words”. If we choose only to read those things we love about the bible, then it is like a picky eater whose health declines because they do not get all the vitamins and minerals contained within those things pushed aside.

Deuteronomy 29:9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

They are given to us for our own good. How is you bible diet?

From Isaiah 43 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?

It is difficult for me to visit my oldest brother. He talks endlessly about the glory days. Back in the day, regaling tales about himself and people I do not know or do not remember. Then he laughs as he accuses other family members who are known for embellishing a story.

My sister did me the greatest favor a few years ago as I talked to her about troubling memories from my past. She told me that it wasn’t that way at all. My perceptions of the past weren’t even accurate. That freed me greatly. I let go of the past since I cannot even trust my own feelings about what happened.

I see a little of that in these quoted passages from Isaiah. The past is gone, nothing can be done to change it in the telling. This new thing however is in the here and now. It is active and alive in this moment and that is something that makes a difference.

What is God doing in your life right now? It doesn’t matter what you were, what you did or what others might have said or done. Tomorrow is shaped by today not yesterday. God is working in your life now, don’t you know it? He is asking you, “Can you feel Me?” Perhaps your past is holding you back. Perhaps your fear of tomorrow is stopping you from moving today. Or perhaps you do not know God as He would have you know Him.

Exodus 32:29 Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

Today, this day.