Read: 2 Timothy 2:15
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.”
Understand:
- What should we be diligent in?
- How can we work toward being “approved to God?”
- What are we to do with God’s word?
Listen: God gives us guidance on being diligent to work toward His glory. We want to seek His approval by our behavior and how we live our lives. In everything we do, we should be asking ourselves, “Would God be okay with this?” and “Does this bring God glory?” Philippians 1:20 states “My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” This verse explains that our life and even our death should honor Christ and bring glory to His name. One thing I want to point out in this verse is that we not only should conduct ourselves so we are not ashamed but that we also can do so with boldness. We have the Lord Jesus who constantly is there for us. He guides us but He also approaches God for us. Hebrews 4:14-16 states the following:
“Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens – Jesus the Son of God – let us hold fast to the confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.”
Why is it important to know that Jesus is seen as the great high priest? In Old Testament times, before Jesus’ birth, the priests were the ones who went into the sanctuary to pray for the people. They were the only ones who were permitted to enter the sanctuary. When Christ was born and became the Savior for His people, it gave us access directly to God. We no longer had to rely on someone to go in to pray for us (Not that there is anything wrong with praying for other people. We definitely should!) But, our Intercessor is Jesus and because of Him we can approach the throne of grace with boldness. Hebrews 6:18-20 says “we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope – like a sure and firm anchor of the soul – that enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner. . .” He goes before us to our Father which gives us boldness to approach God for anything. The most profound thing Jesus did for us was to die on the cross, be resurrected back to life, to save us from our sins. It is because of Him that we know our eternity, if we accept His gift of salvation, is guaranteed to be spent with Him in heaven. We have to remember though that our relationship with Him is also profound. He doesn’t leave us to fight our way through our time on this earth. He knows how tough it is to live in this fallen world and He is right beside us with every step we take. Psalm 23 is, perhaps, a chapter in the Bible that so many are familiar with but take a moment to really think about this verse based upon our study for today. We know, with Christ, we aren’t alone!
The Lord is my shepherd
there is nothing I lack.
He lets me lie down
in green pastures;
He leads me beside
quiet waters.
He renews my life;
he leads me
along the right paths
for His name’s sake.
Even when I go
through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff –
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Only goodness and faithful love
will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house
of the Lord
forever.
Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for Your faithfulness and for loving us more than we can even imagine. Help us to always remember that no matter what is going on in our lives, You are there walking with us and seeing us through everything. Help us remember that we can approach You with confidence because of what Jesus did for us when He died on the cross. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
Majacka Literary Creations 