Equal Opportunity Provider

Thomas Jefferson said, "the harder I work, the luckier I get."  We've all seen guys who overachieve - in sports, in business, in all kinds of professions.  We've seen young football players from Division II directional schools who get signed as undrafted free agents, make the final cut, fill in for an injured star, then turn low expectations into a Pro Bowl season.  Hard work?  Luck?  You decide.  The writer of Psalm 1 talked about the man who doesn't kid around when it comes to keeping his nose in the Scriptures.  "Day and night" he makes learning God's word a passionate pursuit.  As a result, "he is like a tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not whither.  Whatever he does prospers". (Psalm 1:3)  Good genes?  Lucky breaks?  There's something about a man who reads and studies his Bible, not to win theological arguments, but just because he wants his life to be shaped, governed and directed by God's ultimate truth.  Psalm 119:98 says it makes him smarter than his enemies.  Proverbs 1:4 says it transforms a young, inexperienced man into someone who's shrewd and clever, who knows the ropes.  Aren't you blessed to have that kind of resource around?  You are if you're ready to work at it. 
"Lord, I don't always know the best way to get much out of reading the Bible.  But, I ask You, by your Holy Spirit, to begin letting it speak clearly to me.  I do want to learn.  I do want to grow. "
(Coach Joe Gibbs)