Ponderize - 2 Nephi 4:31

In his General Conference talk, "My Heart Pondereth Them Continually," Elder Devin G. Durrant challenged us all to "ponderize" (ponder and memorize) one scripture a week. He listed many different benefits of ponderizing scriptures, but he said that "the primary goal of ponderizing is to provide an uplifting place for your thoughts to go—a place that keeps you close to the Spirit of the Lord."

This is not a unique idea. President Boyd K. Packer recommended picking a "delete key," a scripture or favorite hymn to keep in mind and to turn to when an evil thought comes to mind. For a while, I had tried to follow President Packer's counsel, but I couldn't decide which hymn or scripture to use. Now, I'm thinking that I may not need to decide. At least, not yet. I could decide to ponderize a new verse each week and use each week's ponderizing verse as my "delete key." If one of them works better than the others, I may keep using it while I ponderize others. If not, I'll just use whichever scripture I'm ponderizing that week.

Elder Durrant said:

We are living in a time of ever-spreading evil. We cannot just accept the status quo and be fed ugly words and sinful visuals almost everywhere we turn and do nothing in response. We must fight back. When our minds are filled with uplifting thoughts and images, when we “always remember him,” there is no room left for filth and trash.

I do not want to leave room in my mind for the filth and the trash of the world. There's too much junk in there already. But I also know that I won't really ponderize anything unless I commit myself to it. So I'm going to commit right now to ponderize a scripture this week and to ponderize a new scripture each week in April, starting or ending on Sundays. I may go longer, especially if I start realizing some of the blessings by the end of April. The scripture I'm going to ponderize this week is 2 Nephi 4:31 (which wasn't the scripture I was planning on ponderizing this week, but it caught my eye as I was looking for the other one).

O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?

I like that this scripture is also a prayer, and a prayer asking God to help us repel evil thoughts, which is  the primary goal of ponderizing. I wouldn't be surprised if this verse caught on as my delete key, but we'll see. Each Sunday or Monday, I'll share the insights I gained from ponderizing that week's scripture, if any, as well as the next verse I plan to ponderize and my initial thoughts on that verse. I hope that, by doing this, I will qualify for the blessings that Elder Durrant has promised, including increasing my spiritual attunement and my resistance to the evils of the world.