As Paul shared
three examples in the first portion of chapter two of his final
letter to Timothy, he included the soldier, the athlete and the
farmer, and in chapter two and verse seven of his final words to
Timothy, he told him to “Consider what I say”, and asked
“the Lord” to give him “understanding in all things”
where we read:
Consider
what I say; and the Lord give you understanding in all things.
The verse begins,
“Consider what I say;”
Paul began with the word, “Consider” which
means “to perceive with the mind, to understand, to have
understanding, to think upon, heed and ponder” “what I
say” or “the things, words and ideas” which Paul “spoke,
taught, advised, commanded, intended and mentioned”. Paul desired
for Timothy to seriously think through the words he gave to him.
The
verse goes on to say, “and the Lord give you
understanding in all things.”
As an additional thought to “considering”
what Paul said, Paul requested, “and the Lord”
who is “the one who possesses all things, master who is worthy of
reverence and respect, and the title given to Jesus Christ the
Messiah” “give you”
or “bestow, grant, furnish, deliver, extend and present”
“understanding”
which is literally “a running together and a flowing together
with” and means “knowledge, mental putting together and
intelligence” “in all things”
or “each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone and everything”.
As Timothy “considered”
Paul's words, he could rely upon “the Lord”
to “give” him
“understanding” in
everything he needed to know.
While
we think about Paul's words, we may be challenged to examine whether
we have “considered” his
ideas and thoughts. Do we “ponder” them and allow the depth of
them to penetrate our hearts and minds? Do we pray for “the
Lord” to “give”
us “understanding in all things”?
Rather than being in confusion and bewilderment over the issues in
our lives, perhaps we will “seek to understand”
the ideas Paul conveys, and may “the Lord give”
us a free flowing knowledge “in all things”
we encounter every day.
Next
time Paul tells Timothy how Jesus was raised from the
dead”, 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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