Excerpt from Ephesians 6:10-18

"Take the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."

Reflection by Quinn G. Caldwell

How long would it take you to find Nahum in your Bible without the Table of Contents?  If it's greater than .0002 seconds, my childhood friend Tony would have you beat.  Once, he took me to Vacation Bible School at his church.  There, we did "sword drills."  The teacher would yell out a verse, and the student who found it in their Bible first would win.

Tony won a lot.  The teacher was kind when I asked how to spell "Matthew."

They did those drills because they wanted to be ready to unsheathe the right sword, or scripture reference, at a second's notice when called to spiritual battle.  That's not my theology of scripture or of the Christian life, but I'm still jealous of Tony.  I know my Bible pretty well now, but I still often feel like I'm trying to do complex math without having learned multiplication.  I suppose my 5th-grade teacher's admonition holds here, too: you'll always be able to use a calculator, but the more complicated stuff will be easier if you memorize your times tables now.

Why not commit to learning the books of the Bible this summer?  Why not commit to getting your kids, or your Sunday school kids, to do the same?  The Table of Contents will always be there, but your life of faith really will be easier if you get the basics down now.

Prayer

God, I'm not asking to beat Tony or anything, but can you please remind me how many k's there are in "Habakkuk"?  Amen.

About the Author Quinn G. Caldwell is Associate Minister of Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts, and co-editor, with Curtis J. Preston, of the just-published Unofficial Handbook of the United Church of Christ.

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