I don’t spend a lot of time watching sports, but I’ve heard the term “playbook”. It is a book that contains descriptions of the plays, or actions of the athletes. The athletes are encouraged to follow the playbook, and not to be lone rangers. Athletes need to be team players. In order to play as a team, the playbook guides their actions.

In the early years of the United States, the Bible was the playbook. People utilized it to teach their children how to read. It was used as a primer to educate children. Unfortunately, we live in a day when many homes don’t even have a Bible.

In 2 Timothy 3:15 Paul states this about the Bible when he wrote to Timothy: “and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

If we want to know how to live in a right relationship with God, we must become increasingly familiar with its content.

The Bible contains poetry, historical events, personal letters, and everything God deemed necessary for us to know about Him. Knowing about Him is the most important information we can find in the Bible.

It also contains truth about our creation, God’s purpose for creating us, and detailed guidance on how we should live for Him. It gives us everything we need to know for our spiritual lives. Psalm 119:105 states this truth about the Bible: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

Do you ever have questions about God?

Do you ever have questions about why we exist?

Do you ever have questions about how to deal with relational issues?

Do you ever have questions about what comes after this life?

God’s playbook – the Bible – has answers to these questions, and others.

But God doesn’t give us every detail. 

We must live by faith.

Unlike a sports playbook that needs to be updated and rewritten, God’s Word should never be changed in any manner.

God’s people are His team. Paul refers to God’s people as the Body of Christ. 

Are you living for Jesus or following your own playbook?

Too often people “do church” – attend Sunday service, perhaps give some money to the church, and do other activities that make it appear as if God matters to them. But God looks at our hearts. He knows whether we are truly living for Jesus, or if we are playing church.

We can know the difference. God’s Holy Spirit will convict us. If we are not regularly convicted of our sins, that is a red flag. If we fail to repent regularly of our sins, that is another red flag. There are other red flags, ask God to reveal them.

In Christ, we have unlimited, wisdom, forgiveness etc. God offers us abundant life, that starts now and will be fully realized when we get to heaven. 

Since heaven is our goal, and the fulfillment of God’s promises to His followers, we should practice here as if we were there.

We do that by following God’s playbook, the Bible. Another way to know our status in our relationship with Him, is how meaningful God’s Word is to us. 

Do you desire to spend time with Him in the Bible? If not, seek out the reason why.

If you want to go deeper with Jesus, ask Him to help you with that desire. 

Open the Bible. Think about each verse you read. Ask God to make His living Word alive for you! God’s Word should be our number one priority to read and heed. It gives us everything we need to live a life of value now that honors God. Honoring God should be our number one priority.

I guarantee you will not regret making the effort to go deeper with God, to make His Word your priority. 

If I can help you with this journey, please contact me at: ButGodCares@gmail.com .

Living for Jesus, Donna

P.S. If this has helped you, please feel free to share it with others!

Note: If the verses for Bible references do not appear when you hover over them, go directly to the website, and they should appear for you. Also, please remember to look at the full context of the verses by reading the complete passage.

Copyright 2025 Donna Shappy   All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.