Today’s blog is excerpted from a five-day devotional I wrote for Sports Spectrum, available on YouVersion. Each day’s entry features video reflections from NFL stars, including Drew Brees, Ryan Tannehill, Matthew Slater, Matt Forte, and Demario Davis. They discuss topics such as the daily refreshment of God’s Word, prayer, salvation, baptism and the courage to tell others about Jesus. Below each video, I share some additional reflections.
Here’s NFL quarterback Drew Brees on God’s Word being the roadmap for the Christian life.
Randy again:
Occasionally I think the directions from my phone’s maps app are wrong. “I should turn here, not there.” I’ve learned the hard way to trust the GPS knows better. And while the app is occasionally wrong (though not as often as I am), God is never wrong.
I grew up in an unbelieving home, but at age 15 I came to faith in Jesus while reading the Bible. As a new believer, I couldn’t get enough of God’s Word. I learned the Bible doesn’t contradict itself, but it does contradict me—and I desperately need those mid-course corrections!
The Bible was the North Star to which I fixed my life’s compass. Forty-five years later, that’s truer than ever. As Drew said, God’s Word is a road map, but I also think of it as a corrective lens. Any day I don’t contemplate Scripture, my focus blurs, my purpose gets fuzzy, and my happiness diminishes. I become impatient, critical, self-centered, and unhappy because I lack God’s fresh infusion of grace and perspective.
We may check social media, texts, and emails several times a day, but think nothing of going multiple days without reading Scripture. No wonder we’re spiritually starved and lack the discernment to know what’s true and false.
If you already study God’s Word regularly, stick with it. If not, ask yourself: do I just sit in my recliner and hope I’ll be in shape for the next game? Then don’t procrastinate spending daily time in God’s Word. Drop everything—including this devotional. Open your Bible and meditate on it. Follow a reading plan if it helps. Not next week, not tomorrow—now.
However, don’t just do it out of guilt; do it to find great joy in Jesus! David said of God’s words, “More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10).
Scripture’s depths are endless. Day after day, year after year, we discover more treasures, ones we somehow missed before. Through God’s Word, the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts and minds.
In a spirit of gratitude, read and reflect on these words: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NLT).
Photo: Pixabay
