"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
Part 1
Today: Always Do Your Best for Jesus
The first and second Timothy letters were written by Paul, the mentor, discipler, and spiritual father to Timothy. As a young man, Timothy needed Paul’s help and guidance in the ministry. The things Paul wrote to Timothy, we need to use as sacred principles. We need to put these into practice in our personal lives and use them in our various ministries for Christ.
In our verse today, Paul is challenging Timothy to handle the Word of God correctly. What can we learn from his words to his disciple?
“Study.”
This word may bring many emotions and thoughts to the surface in our minds. The “good students” may want to stand up and cheer when they think about this happy word. But to “the other students,” the term may well dredge up nightmares in their memories from their school days. Let’s alleviate their fears by saying that in the KJV, this word study doesn’t mean doing homework or visiting the library as we did back in our school days. Initially, the ancient word translated here meant to “make haste”[1] (Vincent). Besides this, this word is used several ways in the New Testament, “to exert one’s self,” to “endeavor,” or even to “give diligence,” as it does here in our verse[2] (Thayer). The same word and idea is here,
“Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me” (2 Timothy 4:9).
Opening our verse is a challenge to “be diligent” and do what Paul will explain next. And here, what is good for Timothy is also proper for us to do as well. Earlier in this chapter, Paul has already encouraged Timothy’s diligence in his behavior.
“Thou, therefore, endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully” (2 Timothy 2:3-5).
For God’s child, diligence, “doing our best,” should be a simple fact of life. Because we know and love Jesus Christ, we always strive to do our best for Him! This is a Bible principle.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).
Because our God is glorious…
“O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1).
… we ought to be glorifying Him with all that we do!
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
By the way, I guess this means we also have to do our best when we are actually studying. ?
Come back tomorrow as we think about what “God’s approval” means to His child.
Quote: A thought for Bible students. “Study. Studying means more than simply reading, for that is only scratching the surface. Studying means more than the acquiring of facts, for that is only memorizing. Studying means involving the mind by reflecting, investigating, analyzing, and applying what the researching [has] discovered. Studying involves personal determination and a good dose of energy”[3] (V. Davis).
[1] M.R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword. The word is spoudazō.
[2] J.H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] Davis’s quote, Downloaded: July 22, 2021. From: https://www.tribstar.com/news/lifestyles/stories-of-our-faith-study-to-show-thyself-approved-unto-god/article.