Football players come to camp and are handed a binder filled with plays, formations, and adjustments built to withstand any opponent during the season. A lot of work, foresight, and detail went into putting together what could be a championship playbook. However great a playbook may be, though, it is useless without memorization and proper execution.

Athletes are expected to memorize most, if not all of the playbook—to understand the concept, intention, and correct application of every play. That is because during the course of a game, things don’t always look like they are drawn, and players may have to make adjustments. To do so requires more than memorizing plays—they practice, study, watch films, and redraw them. A coach doesn’t say to meditate on a play, but that is exactly the intention.

In the desert, Jesus fended off Satan’s temptations with three words, “It is written.” When Jesus quoted Scripture, He didn’t have a Bible handy—just like a player can’t carry the playbook on the field during a game. He had the words hidden in His heart and knew the concept and when to apply it. The Bible is our championship playbook, written to withstand every scenario the enemy or life can throw at us. But, if our noses aren’t in the Book, we won’t find ourselves in the game.