STUDY THE WORD. 2 Timothy 2:15.

Posted bySteven WalesPosted inStudy the WordTags:, , , ,

My Facebook profile pic this week is a quotation from a great preacher:

“You can live on froth, bubbles, and little wisps of badly understood theology until the pressure is on. But when the pressure is on, you will want to know what kind of God you are serving” —A.W. Tozer.

I posted this for personal reasons: I’ve been wrestling with what to make of a certain preacher. He is SUPER-ENCOURAGING. If you’re down, he will make you feel better. But not by quoting the promises of God, but by simply telling you “God’s getting ready to do something great. Your best days are still to come.” 

But he never opens his Bible. Literally NEVER. He may be the most popular preacher in the world, in terms of number of viewers. Also, he doesn’t praise Satan or anything. He is more or less doctrinally sound, sort of. But really he’s like Mr. Rogers—a super-easy show for preschoolers. There is NO meat, no depth. It’s baby food, vegetables put in a blender so babies with no teeth can eat them.

A.W. Tozer might describe his messages as “froth, bubbles, and little wisps of badly understood theology.”

I think God expects more from preachers—and from ALL of us.

“STUDY to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly interpreting the word of truth” 2 Timothy 2:15.

When I get to heaven, I do not want to be ashamed because I believed and promoted a wrong view of scripture. I want to study and I want to please God with my efforts. Even in tough areas, like the unprecedented public health questions raised by the COVID pandemic. God has answers and He will lead us if we study. But if you think you can live your whole life on Noah’s ark, Samson, Adam and Eve, and a few over-simplified flannelgraph tales you learned from VBS (or VeggieTales), you will be lost and drowning when hard times come. And hard times WILL COME. Prepare now by studying the word like a serious student and storing its truth away for later.

God, help us love your word and please you with our efforts to study it. Help us read it daily. 

ΑΩ

Published by Steven Wales

Dad's Daily Devotional began as text messages to my family. I wanted my teenagers to know their father was reading the Bible. But they were at school by then. Initially, I sent them a favorite verse or an insight based on what I read each day. That grew into drafting a devotional readng which I would send them via text. I work as an attorney and an adjunct professor, and recently wrote a book called HOW TO MAKE A'S.

Leave a comment