Paul the apostle gave
Timothy his “son in the faith” many instructions
concerning being the pastor and overseer of the church located in
Ephesus. Among these instructions were: “give attendance to
reading, to exhortation and to doctrine” and
not to “Neglect” “the gift that” was in him,
“which was given” to him “by prophecy, with the
laying on of the hands of the presbytery”. In chapter four and
verse fifteen of his letter to him, Paul told Timothy to “meditate
upon these things” where we read:
Meditate upon these
things; give yourself wholly to them; that your profiting may appear
to all.
The
verse begins, “Meditate upon these things; give yourself
wholly to them;” Paul began
this directive with “Meditate upon” which
means “to care for, attend to carefully and practice” and
carries the idea of “meditative pondering upon” “these
things” which is a reference to the things Paul just wrote to
him. Not only was Timothy to “care for” and “ponder” Paul's
instructions, but Paul told him to “give yourself” or
“fully be persuaded and agreeing with” “wholly to” or
“in, by and with” “them”. Paul desired for Timothy not
only to know and follow his instructions, but to fully engage them in
his entire life.
The
verse continues, “that your profiting may appear to all.”
Paul went on to add the reason
Timothy was to “meditate”
and be given “wholly to”
these directives, “that your profiting”
or “so that your advancement and progress” “may
appear” which means “apparent,
manifest, evident, known and easily recognized” “to all”
which refers to “each, every, any, all, the whole and everyone”
both individually and collectively. Since Timothy was young, his
maturing in the faith was to be seen and recognized by anyone he was
around. His maturity was to be gained by “meditating” upon
and giving himself “wholly” to the instructions of Paul.
While we “meditate”
upon the words of Paul, let us examine our own lives and discover
whether we take the time to “care for, attend to carefully and
practice” the word of God. Do we read God's word effortlessly and
so nonchalantly that we have forgotten what we read by the end of a
chapter? There is great benefit for us personally when we allow God's
word to penetrate our minds and think upon it over and over again,
and our maturity in the faith will be demonstrated to others as they
watch us. For a moment, let us allow ourselves to be in the place of
Timothy, and be instructed by Paul the apostle and the Holy Spirit of
God to “care for, practice and meditatively ponder” what His word
has to say to us today.
Next
time Paul tells Timothy to “take heed to” himself, so read
ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment