Wrapping my hands around my coffee mug, I began gingerly:"Ciertamente él cargó con nuestras enfermedades
y soportó nuestros dolores..."
...I paused mid-sentence and cleared my throat, I didn't want my Spanish-speaking friend to think I was just showing-off my scripture knowledge, but his eager eyes coaxed me to continue:
"pero nosotros lo consideramos herido, golpeado por Dios, y humillado..."
I paused again, this time searching for the next line. Why couldn't I remember? Even though this was something I had memorized, conversing in Spanish was still a bit of a challenge for me...
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Tomey, a friend I had met in Spain, had met up with me for coffee that evening. After exchanging some small talk, seemingly out of nowhere he had asked me about my relationship with Jesus...with genuine interest. In fact, I'd call it excited, edge-of-your-seat kind of interest! Nonplussed, I took a moment to try and gather my thoughts. I was still warming up my "Spanish tongue" with familiar comments about the weather while Tomey was already diving in with a subject very close to my heart! I was truly excited at the opportunity, but my mind raced for the right vocabulary words in Spanish to share my faith. I did my best to explain how I have a relationship with Jesus and how I know He rose from the dead and paid for my sins. In spite of my american accent and what I imagined had to sound like a three-year old's vocabulary, he leaned in, hanging on my every word and excitedly nodding his head.
As the waiter re-filled our mugs, I used the break in conversation to grammar-check my next sentence. Between racking my brain for the word "atone" and trying to conjugate "crucify," Tomey's normal slow-gear Spanish for his gringo-friend kicked into mach 2 overdrive! I did my best to understand and keep up with his animated response, but all I could take in was something about being a good person and how God knows what's really in a person's heart.
I said a prayer under my breath...this was completely over my head...witnessing was nerve wracking enough, but doing it in Spanish?! As my heart pounded faster, Tomey's words blurred together in a frenzy of excitement and frantic hand gestures. Yes, this was typical of the Latin culture, but at such a fast pace, I was completely lost!
But then it struck me to share Isaiah 53:4-6 with him. I had casually memorized it that summer - however, it had never occurred to me that I actually might need to recite it on command! At the time, I was thinking that it would be nice to know my favorite verse from Isaiah in Spanish, but now I found myself wishing I had paid more attention to it. I recited the first verse from memory, but the beginning of the next one always tripped me up...if only I had spent more time writing it out...but then, thank God, it finally it came to me:
"Él fue traspasado por nuestras rebeliones, y molido por nuestras iniquidades; sobre él recayó el castigo, precio de nuestra paz, y gracias a sus heridas fuimos sanados."
This time I paused intentionally to let the words sink in before finishing with my favorite part of the passage:
"Todos andábamos perdidos, como ovejas; cada uno seguía su propio camino,
pero el Señor hizo recaer sobre él la iniquidad de todos nosotros"
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In English, Isaiah 53:4-6 reads:
"Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Most of us are familiar with this famous passage in English, Isaiah's prophetic gospel: "by His wounds we are healed." Not only is it vividly poetic, but its message and promise are entirely captivating. Written more than 600 years before Jesus' birth, it presents one of the most striking prophecies of the suffering Messiah and God's plan to save us from our sin by bearing our punishment at the cross.
In His humanity, Jesus indeed took on our pain and bore our suffering. At the cross, Jesus was indeed pierced for our transgressions. God the Father laid on Jesus the Son ALL our iniquity. This staggering, bring-you-to-your-knees, concrete expression of God's great love and justice seemed to me to be words worth knowing by heart.
I never imagined I'd actually recall those precious words to recite as the Holy Spirit led me to witness to Tomey. It had to be God working in me. The best part was that they weren't my words anyway, they were God's! I just happened to be blessed with the opportunity.
By the end of our visit, Tomey was excitedly declaring that Jesus HAD to be the Son of God. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind. He nodded in amazement when I explained how those words had been written hundreds of years before Jesus' birth. His joyful reception of the gospel that night strengthened my own faith, especially when I considered how God had orchestrated the entire conversation and how the Holy Spirit had reminded me of Isaiah 53.
It's not that often that a conversation about Jesus just drops into your lap like that, but I was thankful that I had somewhat prepared myself to "give an answer to anyone who asks me the reason for the hope I have" (see 1 Peter 3:15). Even though I never expected it, part of being prepared included memorizing scripture - even in a foreign language!
I hope this encourages you to be diligent in memorization, it certainly helped me see purpose in periodically reviewing scripture I have learned by memory. You never know how God may use His words hidden in your heart!
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Have you experienced a similar situation? How has knowing God's word by heart helped you share your faith?
Send an email to devotional@keywicards.com with your story, we'd love to hear from you!
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