“Spring Training: 7 Practices for a Winning Life”

Practice #3: “Study the Playbook” (John 14:21) 

As we continue our series “Spring Training: 7 Practices for a Winning Life,” today we are going to talk about Practice #3: “Study the Playbook”. In this series we have already said that a follower of Christ is to answer Christ’s call to follow him fully and what it is abide in Christ. Today we are going to talk about our relationship to God’s Word, the Bible, by understanding how we are to be “Living in the Word”. 

Baseball has a number of plays that a player must execute in order to play effectively and win the game. There are plays that are controlled by the batter like a bunt or a sacrifice fly. Others are controlled by the team in the field like a double play, force play, squeeze play, triple play and hit and run. Within each play there are a variety of ways that a play can be executed depending on certain circumstances on the field. That is why Spring Training is so essential for the players. The plays in a coaches’ playbook are rehearsed over and over in practice. They must go from the page to the players mind so that a player on the field doesn’t have to think about it they just respond.  Baseball, more than any other sport, is a game of reaction and response based on what the batter and the ball do. Because of that a player has to know the plays and be able to respond automatically. Making the right response and executing the right play is the key to winning.  

The “playbook” for a follower of Jesus Christ is the Bible. The “plays” are the principles that the Bible teaches us in order to live what I am calling a winning life. A winning life is a life that is effectively pleasing God and bringing me joy. Our ability to execute the plays found in the playbook is the key to a winning life. Jesus made it clear that those who obeyed his commandments are the ones who demonstrate their love for him. Obeying his commands is to be second nature to us. You can’t always have a Bible handy to know the next right move or decision to make. The only way to do obey his commands consistently and effectively is by implementing the practice of “Living in the Word”.  

What do I mean by “Living in the Word”? Living in the Word is the practice of personally connecting with the Scriptures in such a way that I have the power to live life as Jesus taught and modeled. This means that our ability to obey the commandments of Jesus is determined by our degree of significant contact with and the absorption of God’s Word. It won’t happen by accident. It won’t happen by osmosis. It won’t happen without my being willing to apply as a habit of life the practice of living in the Word. Only the Bible has the power to effectively and consistently root out, point out, clear out and cut out those things that are hindering my progress in living a life that Jesus taught and modeled.   

This is exactly what Paul was reinforcing to Timothy in 2 Tim. 3:14-17 (NLT). He told him, “But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You have been taught the Holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. 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 straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.” He tells Timothy that his continual connection with the Scriptures was the key to Timothy’s growth as a Christian. That same thing is true for us if we are going to have a winning life: We are to be “Living in the Word”.   

Living in the Word begins by our personally connecting with God’s Word, the Bible. Jesus called his words “commandments”. (John 14:5) Paul called them "The holy Scriptures," and "Scripture" (v. 15-16). Paul tells Timothy that the source for his instruction in the past, in the present and in the future will be the Scripture. For Timothy, this meant whatever access he had to the books of the Old Testament. For us as 21^st century believers, we would define the “Word” as the entire 66 books of the Old and New Testament—Genesis to Revelation that we call the Bible. 

Why is it so important that we continually connect with the Bible? One reason is because it is “inspired” or literally, "God-breathed." It means that God has breathed his character into Scripture so it is inherently inspired. He is not saying that the Scriptures are inspiring in the way that some piece of literature is inspiring, even though this is true. He means "the Scriptures owe their origin and distinctiveness to God himself" (NAC, 1, II Timothy, Titus p. 236). They are alive because they are God’s words to us! They are inspired—God-breathed. 

We are to connect with the Bible not only because it is inspired, but also because it is true and truth. I simply mean that the Bible is absolutely truthful in all it teaches. It is truth without any mixture of error in its original form. If the words infallible and inerrant help you, then I believe those as well—and without apology! Yet what I marvel in is not its definition but that it is for all time and history a book that is an inexhaustible source of life and truth for all people.  

For 34 years I have devoted my life to this Book. For 34 years I have opened it morning after morning and knew that the God of the entire universe had something to say to me. For 34 years I have opened this book and dared to attempt to translate its truth into life for my culture and contemporaries. For 34 years I have laid my life down alongside this book and have seen how far I have to go in order to be more like Jesus. As 2007 unfolds I face a new year of standing in this place and proclaiming to you what God has said to me from what he has already said in this Book. After 34 years I still see there is so much more to know! Why? Because this Book is Alive and it is Truth! The reason I need to connect with the Word of God is because it is alive and it is truth.  

How do I though personally connect with the Scripture? (v. 14) Paul told Timothy, “You must remain faithful to the things you have been taught.” This means that what Timothy has already learned he was to remain faithful or devoted to them. While this was a command for Timothy’s life it was also a discipline that had to be maintained. He wasn’t to forget what he had been taught; he was, rather, to commit to live and hold on to what he had learned. It was to be for him a continual connection.  

I can’t tell you how Timothy did this continually but I can suggest some ways that are helpful for us to continually connect with the Scripture. There is absolutely one basic practice for continually connecting with the Scripture and that is a daily time when you read the Bible for yourself. We talked some about this in our last message on abiding I Christ but let me give you three very practical suggestions to help you do that connect with Scripture (adapted from Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, p. 30):

• Find a time: Five minutes a day will take you through the Bible in less than three years. You can do it!
• Find a plan: We have made one plan available for you called the "Book at a Time" daily Bible reading plan.
• Find a thought: This could be one word, phrase or verse to focus on as a result of your reading. Write it down to help you remember.

There are many basics that we must learn. I know that many of you are far ahead of others in understanding how to connect with God’s word. However, until you have learned the basics of finding a time, plan and thought to connect to God daily, you haven’t moved past first base. Connecting with the Scriptures isn’t a race to see how much you can do. If one plan is too much, then find another one. John Ortberg said, “The goal is not for us to get through the Scriptures. The goal is to get the Scriptures through us.”  

What is to be the result of our continually connecting with the Scripture?  Well, we have said that our connection is to be in such a way that it gives us the power to live life as Jesus taught and modeled. Paul told Timothy that the result of his connection with the Scripture was teach us what is true, make us realize what is wrong, straighten us out, teach us to do what is right (v.16) and equip us for every good thing God wants us to do. (v.17)

In other words, Paul is telling Timothy that connecting with Scripture by reading isn’t enough. Scripture has to be applied to your life. He goes on to say that the Scripture that Timothy had been taught was "useful" for five specific things:

• The Bible teaches us what is true.
• The Bible makes us realize what is wrong in our lives
• The Bible straightens us out.
• The Bible teaches us to do what is right.
• The Bible prepares us to used by God.

What does this mean to us? It means that what I do about what I hear is the only way the Bible becomes real in my life. It means that the contact I have with the Bible is to be more than casual. It is to be seen as the absolute source of instruction for my life. It means that I will place myself in contact with the Bible in such a way that I am awakened to areas of my life that are clearly displeasing to God. It means that I am willing to submit my life to its truth and yield to the places where I know I am wrong. It means that I am willing to give myself to an intentional process of being instructed by God’s word. It means that I will not only listen to God’s word but also do what it says. The only truth you own is the truth you apply to your life. It will only be as I apply God’s word that I will have the power to live life as Jesus taught and modeled. 

So the question is: How well are you living in God’s word? Today you might wonder where you start. I have four recommendations: Start reading the Bible daily, gather with others to examine the Bible in a small group, meet with others to hear the Bible preached and taught, find a resource to begin personally studying the Bible. With these things as your foundation you will begin the wonderful journey of “Living in the Word”, the practice of personally connecting with the Scriptures in such a way that you have the power to live life as Jesus taught and modeled. 

February 25, 2007

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas