pi to 20 decimal places

3.14159265358979323846

My Junior High math teacher, Mr. Immel, had us memorize pi to 100 decimal places. Sadly, I can only remember the first 20 digits. We spent time on it everyday using mnemonics to help us fit a few digits at a time into the right sequence.

Is it important that I know this number to 100 or even 20 decimal places? No--although it has helped me win a few bets! The real lesson is in the process:

1. Mr. Immel said it was important
2. We heard it
3. We saw it
4. We wrote it down ourselves
5. We learned to recall it through practice

Let's apply this process to the Bible:

1. Certainly the Bible is important
2. We hear it and see it when we follow along with the Sunday readings

But what about the rest of the process? Writing notes during the sermon or during Bible study? Memorizing verses? Why bother, right?

Now you may get the impression you need to memorize the Bible in order to be a good (perfect) Christian. Nothing could be further from the truth. You and I have no hope of being a perfect Christian in this lifetime. We are all sinners and nothing we do will ever be enough to save us from the punishment we deserve for disobeying even one of God's laws. Jesus paid the price and we are saved by believing it.

So why all this emphasis on following this process with the Bible? Because of step 1: The Bible is important. The more time you spend with it, the more it (well, really Jesus) becomes a part of you. Just like pi to 20 decimal places is a part of me.

Thanks Mr. Immel.

Stephen
Sola Gratia - Sola Fide - Sola Scriptura