December 1 - I’m Cool With Not Being Cool

 Read today’s texts first: Romans 5-8

MAXIMize YOUR DAY 

Knowing, quoting and living God’s Word
is as cool as it gets! 

As a young teen I had two strikes against me in the “cool” category:  I was an outspoken Christian and I was a nerd.  Those two factors converged when I became captain of a Bible quiz team.  This was a big deal in Foursquare by the late 60’s: matching outfits, high tech buzzer chairs (when you stood up first, your chair number lit up), and teams from all over the world competing at our international conventions.

The competition at that level was so fierce that if you wanted to answer first you almost always had to jump up before the question was fully asked.  You would then have to finish the question before answering. This required extensive Bible memorization.

I did this twice, with the books of John and Romans.  We went all the way to the big show in La La Land with Romans and to this day I can quote much of the book.  This was especially true of Romans 6 because Bill Gothard challenged young men to memorize that chapter to ward off teenaged temptation.

I will never regret committing the Bible to memory and reminding myself over and over again that I am “dead indeed unto sin but alive to God through Jesus” (6:11). As a teenager, I was able to steer clear of the pitfalls so many of the cool guys at school fell headlong into.  When I faced temptation I used to quote all 23 verses of chapter 6.  By the end, I was so distracted by the process I usually forgot what the temptation was.  Beyond that, repeating this powerful passage that resonates at the end with “for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” was like spiritual weightlifting.  I felt pumped, spiritually “ripped,” an overcomer – definitely not a nerd in God’s eyes.

“Lord, thank You for the transforming power of Your Word.  Knowing it, quoting it and living it is about the coolest thing I know.”