It was July 1961. Almost exactly 65 years ago.
Legendary coach Vince Lombardi walked onto the field for day one of training camp. His Green Bay Packers team was comprised of professional athletes who almost won the NFL Championship in the previous season.
Was he armed with a new playbook? Had he prepared a new regiment of strength-training exercises? What new ideas would he share to get them over the top next time?
Coach Lombardi held up the pigskin and said, “Gentlemen, this is a football.”
He chose to begin at the beginning – to cover the basics and take nothing for granted. These were seasoned athletes, but he chose to focus on fundamentals.
As the end of summer creeps up on us and we approach the busy days of fall, let’s take a leaf from Coach Lombardi’s playbook. Let’s get back to the basics with the Word of God.
This month’s Write the Word is titled, “ABCs of Scripture.” We encourage you to:
- Read it
- Write it
- Speak it
- Share it
- Think it
- Hide it
- Display it
- Live it
When the king of Israel took the throne, God had some wise counsel for the new king:
When he takes the throne of his kingdom,
he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law,
taken from that of the Levitical priests.
Deuteronomy 17:18
Having every available scribe at this disposal, the king could have requested a scroll be prepared for every day of the week or every room in the palace. This is a task that could have been done for him. But God, in His wisdom, knew the value to the king in writing it out for himself. When we write the Word (rather than only reading the Word), it slows us down. We savor phrases and words that might otherwise be overlooked.
You and I may not be queens (or kings), but we are certainly serving the King of all kings. What better way to prepare our hearts for that high and holy privilege than by writing the Word of God?
The ABC verses chosen this month not only follow the letters of the alphabet, but they offer key truth for life and learning.
As you hold up your Bible — leather-bound or not — perhaps you can borrow a phrase from Coach Lombardi:
Ladies and gentlemen, young and old …
this is the Word of God.
In honor of the end of summer and beginning of the school year, we’ve launched a new topic for our August Write the Word bookmark: the ABC’s of Scripture. We invite you to listen as Laura introduces it … and shares a challenge idea for your kids or grand kids!
