Every day it sits on my desk as a powerful reminder. It tugs on my soul with a convicting message that seems to say, “Be careful. Do not let your life be like this.” The object is a gorgeous leather Bible with all the extras, including gold tipped pages. It’s real nice. But the reason I don’t want my life to be like this Bible is that when you crack open the pages, you discover that the pages are blank. Yup—not a single word or letter. It appears to be the Bible of all Bibles on the outside, but it contains nothing of God’s message on the inside. The fake Bible had actually been a sample sent to me by a publisher so that we could get an idea of a cover we wanted for a future FCA Bible. The sample just needed blank pages to fill the inside.

After leading the nation in total offense and passing yards per game last season, University of Houston quarterback Case Keenum was all set to lead the Cougars to another great run in 2010. That all changed, however, when in just their third game Keenum suffered a season-ending knee injury that forced him to the sideline for his senior season. As a man of faith, the injury forced Keenum to rely on the Lord in new ways and to fully trust in the Lord’s ultimate plan.

As a cross-country skier, I have to train all year. Since we have not had much snow in the last couple of years, we have had to do dry-land training so that when the snow comes we are ready. Skiing is both a team and an individual sport, and we train for endurance, technique and strength. And although we have a team behind us encouraging us along the way to keep us going and making us want to succeed, it is still up to us as individuals how much we put into the sport.

If someone walked up to you and asked, “What does it mean to play ‘in the zone’?” how would you respond? What professional athlete comes to your mind when you think about playing in the zone? As an athlete, you have certainly been in the zone at least once. To play in the zone means that you are unstoppable. You are the “go to.” You can’t miss. I think you get the point—when you are in the zone, it is an awesome experience.

What does in the zone mean if you relate it to your spiritual life instead of your sports experience? Have you ever been in the zone spiritually? What does it take to get in the zone? Let’s dig deeper with a few questions based on Ephesians 5:1-10.