When David Cassidy died, he left behind millions of aging fans. He was a teenage heartthrob in the 1970s. But after his stardom with The Partridge Family, Cassidy spent decades navigating financial woes, marriage problems, addictive disorders, and medical issues, passing away from liver failure at age 67. According to his daughter his last words were, “So much wasted time.”

What a confession! It’s sad to come to the end of life only to realize we’ve wasted the few irreplaceable years God allotted us on earth. We don’t have time to waste, for the Bible tells us to number our days and to redeem the time (Psalm 90:12; Ephesians 5:16).

If we live to 80, that’s about 29,000 days. How do we spend the time? According to one study, we spend 26 years sleeping, 8 months laughing, 30 hours crying, 15 months exercising, 12 years at work, and 3 years posting updates on our social media sites. Men spend 3,000 hours shaving. We spend 27 months of our life in movie theaters and 9 full years watching television. More than a year of that time is spent on commercials.

The surveys didn’t say how much time the average person spends in Bible study and prayer, but for followers of Christ it’s a priority. The world around us says: “I’m here for a few years then perish forever, so I’d better eat, drink, and be merry.” The Christian says: “God has stationed me on earth a few years to walk with Him, work for Him, and anticipate eternity with Him. I must redeem the time.”

Time to Look to His Word

The moment we receive Christ as Savior, He becomes the Lord of our clocks and calendars. The psalmist prayed, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Psalm 139:16, NLT). Our goal is to allocate our time as God has ordained our tasks—and the finest hours should be invested in our walk with God.

Healthy relationships require dedicated time, and we cannot develop a friendship with someone without time together. It takes time to talk, to listen, to understand, and to grow closer. That’s why Jesus said, “When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6).

Go into your room. Shut the door. Pray.

And what else? We must do as Mary of Bethany did—sit at His feet and listen to His Word. When we talk to God, it’s called prayer; when He speaks to us, it’s called Bible study. When you meet with the Lord each day in personal Bible study, it’s more than a routine, ritual, or research—it’s a relationship. You’re listening to His voice in Scripture and enjoying the pleasure of His company.

James 1:25 says, “He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

After meeting with the Lord in our secret room each day, we open the door and leave; but we don’t leave God behind. He walks with us into the day, into the night, and into all the situations we face. We continue to pray anytime, day or night, at any hour, for any reason. And His Word can go with us too, for God has given us an amazing ability to remember things—to learn.

Time to Learn His Word

I want to encourage you to learn God’s Word one phrase at a time, verse-by-verse. If you can learn your phone number, you can memorize portions of Scripture. You can internalize entire passages if you take your time, devote a small amount of daily effort to it, and persevere. The Bible says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11).

How do we hide God’s Word in our heart?

The New York Times ran an article on techniques actors use to memorize passages from Shakespeare. The director of education at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Jacqui O’Hanlon, said, “Get up on your feet, and speak the words aloud.” She suggested acting out the sentences, saying them with gestures and throwing your energy into the work. Find the cadence of the passage and keep repeating it until it starts cutting a grove in your mind.

Those are good suggestions for memorizing Scripture. Quote it aloud, vigorously, repeatedly. When we learn a verse by heart, it moves from our conscious minds to our subconscious minds, and even to our unconscious minds. Should we awaken in the middle of the night, we can begin quoting it. Should we face an unexpected alarm by day, we’ll discover it coming to mind when needed.

“Restoring the art of Scripture memory is crucial for us, our churches, and children,” Rob Morgan says. “It’s vital for mental and emotional health and for spiritual well-being. Though it’s as easy as repeating words aloud, it’s as powerful as acorns dropping into furrows in the forest. It makes the Bible portable; you can take it with you everywhere without packing it in a purse or briefcase. It makes Scripture accessible day and night…. It gives you a word to say to anyone, in season and out of season… It changes the atmosphere of every family and alters the weather forecast of every day.

“It takes one minute a day, or five or ten—whatever you can devote to it. It can be done in your bath, your bed, at your desk, or in an airplane (you can’t say all that about too many things). It can be done on the go, in traffic jams, while shaving, at sunup, or before bedtime. It can be done alone, with another person, or in groups. It’s an amazingly versatile habit but also a vital one, profitable whether we’re in the nursery or in the nursing home.”¹

Time to Live His Word

Of course, Scripture memory, commendable as it is, isn’t enough. As James said, we must be doers of the Word. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Somewhere I heard of a thief who, after he was captured, was found to have the Ten Commandments tattooed on his chest. Right across his body was the phrase, “Thou shalt not steal,” but the words were never more than skin deep.

Years ago, the superintendent of a large Sunday school noticed that the weekly offering from the Junior Boys class wasn’t reaching the treasurer. He learned one of the boys had been pocketing the offering each week. It was the same boy who, a few months earlier, had won the award for learning the largest number of Bible verses, including the Ten Commandments, with its prohibition of stealing. Somehow the verses he learned didn’t make it down from his brain to his behavior.

The Bible says, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word” (Psalm 119:9). We must read it and heed it. When we discipline our time to look into God’s Word, learn it, and live it out, then all of life becomes a walk with the Lord, and our heart overflows into the work He has assigned for us.

What a joy!

When you become sensitive to the time you’re investing in your walk with God, you’ll make the most of each day. And when the Lord takes you home, your last words won’t be, “So much wasted time!”

They will be like this: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Sources:

¹ Robert J. Morgan, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 2010), xiii.