There are quick and easy ways to remember lots of material. One way is to create a “catchy phrase.” There are all sorts of applications in many disciplines. Here are a few examples that I have used in my Bible study to help me remember key facts.
In trying to memorize the books of the Bible, people will sometimes find difficulty is memorizing some of the books. In particular, I’m thinking about Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. If you take the first letters of each of these books, you get GEPC. Someone once told me, “Go Eat Pop Corn.” It stuck. This is often how I remember the order of these books. “Go Eat Pop Corn” translates easily to “Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.” You can often do something like this using the first letters of words.
Here’s another example. It employs something like a poem. In Genesis 40 Joseph interprets two dreams of his fellow prisoners of the king. The first is the cupbearer’s dream. His dream was of a vine branch that budded and ripened into the grapes. In the dream the cupbearer pressed the grapes into Pharaoh’s cup. Joseph interpreted this as his restoration. The second dream was the baker’s dream. His dream was of birds eating bread from three baskets on his head. Joseph interpreted this dream as his death sentence. Both of the dreams came true. It’s easy to remember that the dreams turned out well for one of the prisoners and poorly for the others. But how to remember? I remember coming up with the phrase, “Cool for the Cupbearer; Bad for the Baker.” It’s sort of like a poem. But with the phrase, I remember the order of the dreams and which one turned out good and which one turned out bad.
Here’s another example. This time, it’s utilizing a story to remember a phrase that can lead you easily to what you want to remember. Here’s the story. There once was a pig farmer named, “Burney Graines.” His daughter’s name was “Cindy,” who had pigs of her own. Cindy had a gilt that she loved. (For those who don’t know a gilt is a female pig that has not yet been bred and has never given birth.) Anyway, one day, this gilt was out of control. Something had agitated her and she couldn’t stop squealing and running around the pen. When Cindy’s father, Burney, say it, he entered the pen and began stroking the pig on the back. Soon, the pig was calm and peaceful. That’s the story. Here’s my phrase: “Burney Graines Pacifies Cindy’s Gilt.” Here’s how it helps me to remember. The first five chapters of Leviticus tell of five different sacrifices that the Jews were to offer. There was the burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering. This little story helps me to remember the names and orders of the offerings, thereby keeping an overview of the first five chapters of Leviticus.
If you read this far, the following catchy phrases should stir you to remember something about the Bible: “Go Eat Pop Corn”; “Cool for the Cupbearer; Bad for the Baker”; and “Burney Graines Pacifies Cindy’s Gilt.”
I urge you to go and do likewise.
Enjoying His Grace 