POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15

I am thankful to have grown up in a student ministry as a teenager where my youth pastor and leaders emphasized and encouraged our spiritual growth with the Word of God as the foundation to our lives. Through Sunday School and our weekly discipleship groups, where daily discipline was essential to the success of our group and personal spiritual growth, we had the opportunity to understand the importance and impact of the Bible in all areas of our lives. It wasn’t just a novelty item to be recognized by a museum as a large part of history or an old book that our grandparents had on their coffee table at home collecting dust. It was to be an active part of our lives.

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12

I recently read a valuable illustration that explained the effectiveness and importance of a “daily dose” of exposing our lives to the Word of God. Some people seem to expect the Bible to hit them like a jolt of adrenaline each time they read or study it. Although the “jolt” may hit us occasionally, the benefits of the Word of God act more like vitamins. People who regularly take vitamins do so because of their long-term benefits, not because every time they swallow one of the pills, they feel new strength surging through their bodies. Through a daily habit of consistently taking vitamins because they have been told that, in the long haul, vitamin supplements are going to have a beneficial effect on their physical health, resistance to disease, and general well-being.

The same is true of reading the Bible. At times it will have a sudden and intense impact on us. However, the real value lies in the cumulative effects that long-term exposure to God’s Word will bring to our lives.

Paul encouraged Timothy as a young servant of the gospel to understand the urgency and value of correctly handling the Word of God in his ministry to the early church. Although a long time has passed between Timothy’s ministry and our necessity for spiritual well-being, we still fall under the same need to be “approved…as a worker who correctly handles the word of truth”.

When we are fixing a problem to our home or vehicle, we typically look to hire a repairman or mechanic that is qualified or licensed to get the job done well.

That same call to excellence shouldn’t change with our handling the Word of God in our lives whether we are a pastor, missionary, Bible study leader, or new follower of Jesus Christ. We need the Word of God in our lives to sustain and lead us daily in our individual ministries the Lord has put in our lives.

May we all – young or old, man or woman – be equipped and ready for every good work we are called to. Yes, we can brush up on a specific topic for a sermon or Bible study series, but the essential value we find in the “daily dose” of God’s Word will pay dividends in our lives and those we are around.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. –
2 Timothy 3:16-17

by Jim Garner