Are you a fan of memorizing scripture? How about memorizing entire books of the Bible? Much like the well known National Spelling Bee, there is a National Bible Bee Competition held each fall in San Antonio, Texas. We’re excited to share the story of Lima’s very own native, Emily Cox, who qualified and placed fourth in the 2017 National Bible Bee!
Meet Emily Cox & Her Family
A few years ago, Emily’s parents read an article about the National Bible Bee. She was already involved in other Bible competitions so it was a natural fit for Emily to want to compete at a national level. After an intense summer program that would require her to study an entire book of the Bible, learn cross references to key words as well as the Greek language, Emily qualified as a finalist!
Emily enjoys studying the Bible in a thorough way, “To prepare for it, you have to study the bible in-depth, and that’s really exciting! I would have never learned to study the Bible as much, if I hadn’t done it. I also have to memorize and that makes me understand passages better than I would if I was just reading them.”
The 2017 Bible Bee
During one of the rounds of the competition, Emily was randomly given Revelation 22:10-17 to try to successfully quote. Through all of the nerves of a live audience and broadcast, Emily beautifully and carefully spoke each word with intention and confidence.
With a score of 3,950 points, she said all of her studying had been worth it. “You just find more and more reasons to trust the Bible and more and more reasons to trust God and obey”, she said.
Each year, 120 contestants from all across the country are chosen and placed in their respective age divisions to compete at a national level. All contestants participate in a preliminary round of a written exam and an oral recitation. The oral rounds require the students to recite large sections of randomly drawn biblical scripture while standing on stage in front of a large audience and panel of judges.
It’s incredible to learn how much scripture she has memoried and will carry with her as she grows older. Congratulations to Emily Cox! We wish her the best as she continues memorizing scripture and compete in future National Bible Bee Competitions!
Download our Chronological Bible Plan
Reading God's Word daily is one of the most important things we can do to be #Fitfor2018. Don't wait until next January 1st to start reading -- download our free plan to get started today!
Get your plan here