Proverbs 3:1
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My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
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Keeping our hearts is a priority, for out of it are the issues of life (4:23). Your heart directs your life (Luke 6:45). So we keep wisdom there to guide it (3:3; 4:21; Ps 37:31)!
Paul warns soberly about letting the things we have heard slip away (Heb 2:1-4). We are dealing with the Creator God of heaven and the consequences of forgetting are horrible!
Men remember what they count important. It is not a function of memory: it is a function of priorities. It is not difficult, as much as it requires diligence. What do you remember?
James warns us to be doers of God's word, not just hearers, deceiving ourselves (James 1:21-25). The saving benefits of truth are for those who remember and do it. Or we are like a man seeing his faults in the mirror of God's word, who makes no corrections. But those who see the instruction, remember it, and continue to do it shall surely be blessed.
Paul warns the gospel only saves those who keep it in memory (I Cor 15:2), for some at Corinth had forgotten the resurrection of the dead. Without this doctrine, he easily showed that salvation from sin is lost and we are of all men most miserable (I Cor 15:19).
Dear reader, it is our duty to hear instruction carefully and bring forth fruit (Luke 8:18). What kind of ground are you? Satan will snatch away instruction, unless you take it and keep it in your heart, where it can bear the fruit of righteousness (Luke 8:12).
So David teaches us to hide God's word in our hearts (Ps 119:11), and we do this by memorizing it. Learning verses keeps them in your heart, where you can easily meditate on them (Ps 1:2; 119:15,23,43,78,97,99,148) and readily use them (22:18; Lu 4:4,8,12).
Then Peter teaches the importance of repetition (II Pet 1:12-15). Though his hearers already knew the truth, he was committed to frequent repetition to help them remember.
Jesus had the law of God in His heart; and so He delighted in keeping God's will, which is revealed there (Ps 40:6-8). Are you glad He kept the will of God (Heb 10:9-10)?
Hearing instruction is not enough. There is profit only in remembering and doing it (3:2). To hear and forget is a horrible waste of an opportunity; and God will hold us guilty, if we squander the precious privilege of hearing wisdom (1:24-32; Luke 12:48). We must remember what we are taught; we cannot forget it (3:3,21; 4:4-6,13,21; 6:21; 7:1; 22:18).
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