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“Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:14,15).
Black pens, blue pens, and red pens. Highlighters, crayons, and markers. Notebooks, loose-leaf paper, and three-ring binders. Compass, scissors, and glue sticks.
Taking time off?
August means back to school. But what do you do that first day of school? Organize your desk and set up your locker. Review your schedule and go through the syllabus for each class. Write down your assignments and get your homework done.
Back to school.
God’s Word is not a textbook, but back to school? After taking time off over summer? From worship and Bible study and Sunday school? From family devotions and bedtime Bible stories and personal time in the Word?
Summer is a busy time. Vacations and trips. Swimming lessons and band camp. Softball and baseball. Staying up late and sleeping in later. But how about sitting at the feet of Jesus? Listening to the one thing needful? God’s Word is not a textbook, but did it get away from us over the summer?
Become a student in the Word
God’s Word is not a textbook, but it makes us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” That is why these words are written in the first place. That we may believe that Jesus is the Christ. The Son of God. And that by believing we may have life in his name (John 20:31).
That’s where faith comes from. It comes from hearing the message. And the message is heard through the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). God’s Word is living and active. It’s powerful and effective. It’s like rain and snow that water the earth. It won’t return to God empty. It will accomplish the purpose for which he sent it (Isaiah 55:10,11).
These words of God are so sweet! Sweeter than honey (Psalm 19:10). They are like a spring that wells up to eternal life, quenching our spiritual thirst time and time again—to the point where we will never thirst again (John 4:14). They are full of peace and comfort, hope and joy, love and forgiveness.
And these words are so useful. God’s Word “is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Thoroughly equipped. The people of God. For every good work. It becomes a lamp, you might say, for our feet; a light, even, for our path (Psalm 119:105).
God’s Word “is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”
We know that Jesus lived and died and rose again. We believe that he lived in our place, died our death, and rose to give us life. We trust that his innocence now covers our guilt, that he forgives every one of our sins, and that he will come again to take us home to live with him forever in heaven.
Continue in that, dear student of the Word—in what you have learned and of what you have become convinced. God’s Word has made you wise, dear child of God, for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
PRAYER: Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word! Amen.
Author: Stephen Helwig
Volume 111, Number 08
Issue: August 2024
