Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Tuesday, May 19, Romans 8:23

"And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."

I recently read a meme (just the word "meme" tells you everything: me, Me ME, all about ME!) claiming that some charlatans say that they created a drug to extend our live spans 200 years. My comment was: "Why would I want to live 200 more years in this fallen world? I have eternity ahead of me."

Also, why would I want to exist in this injury prone, disease-ridden body when a new immortal, spiritual body awaits me when God calls me home?

No thanks, charlatans. This fallen world is not my home. It is a dark, wilderness of unbelief, filled with briers of evil desires, and thorns of wickedness, trying to snare those who would follow after the lovely Light of Life offered us by the finished work of Christ. And the truth is, a complete renovation of heaven and earth awaits all creation.

And we, those who believe, are the "firstfruits" of that redemption process. As I said yesterday, we who believe have "inside information", so we groan inwardly in this present darkness as we eagerly await the redemption of our bodies.

How could two centuries more of this war-infested, blood-riddled world appeal to anyone? What appeals to me is the hope of 1 John 3:1-2:

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that they did not know him.

"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is."

"For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).

This is a world of woe and affliction, continually fueled by our sin. Even in the short time I've lived, I've seen our nation fall from one proud to strive to be "under God", to a sinful, self-serving, God-hating vat of putrid wickedness, and frankly, I want no part of it.

And I am one of many who: "groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."

If you are as well, be patient, for an eternal weight of glory awaits those who trust Christ. Trust Him today!

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

Memory Helps

"And not only the CREATION,
but we OURSELVES,
who have the FIRSTFRUITS of the Spirit,
(Anotc, bwo, whtfotS)

groan INWARDLY
as we wait EAGERLY
for the ADOPTION as sons,
the REDEMPTION of our bodies."

(gi awwe ftaas troob)

For long verses I usually divide and conquer, dividing it into smaller sections, and then find an "anchor word" for each line. So I divided this one into two "verselets" and take each separately until mastered.

For the first section, I picked out "Creation/Ourselves/Firstfruits", for out of Creation, we Ourselves are the Firstfruits of the Spirit.

Then the adverbs "inwardly/eagerly" for the first two lines of the second part, and the "ptions" of the last two lines: "adoption/redemption".

Then I expand each line from their anchor words. It's a 31-word verse, so take your time! The initials in parentheses are the first letters of each word, so you can try to recite the verse with only those when you get close.

Linking verse numbers:

I use a dwarfish-looking "gnome" for verses 23 (n=2, m=3, g is silent, vowels fillers).

He's in roller skates to remind me of chapter 8, and instead of those floppy looking hats, he's wearing an ancient "laurel wreath" the Romans wore to remind us of Romans.

I picture him and his fellow gnomes in the midst of a forest (creation) holding "firstfruits" and groaning under their weight. Next to them is an "adoption agency" that they are "eagerly" waiting to get into. That helps me link the verse to Romans 8:23.