Thursday, October 29, 2015

Meditate upon these Things 1 Timothy 4:15


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.




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