Daily Bible Verses for 2/9/2017

Be Diligent in the Gospel – (2nd Timothy 2:15)

Daily Verse(s)
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Reading Notes
As we read this passage three words stand out in our mind, “diligent”, “rightly divided” and “ashamed.” All of these speak of our responsibility as followers of Jesus to study God’s word and present the Gospel to those around us, with how we live our lives. The term used here for “diligent” denotes a zealous persistence or a deep down desire to know Jesus and to serve our Lord. Moreover, when Paul speaks here about “rightly dividing” the word of God, the term means “cutting it straight” and it’s a reference to correctly understand and know God’s word. A knowledge that can only come from the regular reading and studying of the scripture. A knowledge that can only come from the Holy Spirit helping our understanding of scripture in light of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. As followers of Christ, we have a responsibility, as well as a God given desire to study His word. Jesus himself, commands us to know His word and be ready to give an account to those who ask us the reasons for our faith in Him. Moreover, we are not alone in this. We have a companion, a helper if you will, who is God, the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit comes alongside every believer and helps us to understand God’s word by illuminating scripture for us. This is a gift of our salvation, which we receive because of our faith in Christ. This means as we study and pray on God’s word, the Holy Spirit helps us to better understand and remember God’s word in light of who Jesus is and what He has done for us on the Cross of Calvary. Because of our saving faith and God’s grace we can better see and understand that the Bible is God’s special revelation to us regarding His plan of redemption and His interactions with Humanity. And because of that we understand that the Bible as a whole testifies of Christ, and we can clearly see Jesus in the pages of both the Old and New Testaments. And with our salvation, the Holy Spirit writes the laws of God upon our hearts so we can love others, serve the Lord and share the Gospel with those around us, as we are directed to do so under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are to regularly read and study God’s word. We are to regularly pray and meditate on scripture. Moreover, we regularly seek to understand, memorize and rightly divide the word of God, in order that we can teach others and edify the body of Christ, which is the church. And lastly, we are not to be ashamed of the Good News of salvation by faith alone, in Christ alone, which is the love and power of God to save souls from Hell and eternal separation.