I spend a lot of time studying here in my office. In fact, I consider just about everything I do "study" in some sense. I had a teacher in college who made a statement that impressed me. He said that when somebody asked him how long it took to prepare for a message or lesson, his answer was "All my life." By that he meant that everything he did was part of his preparation to minister the Word of God to others. I like that.Since I'm no longer in school, I'm not studying to pass a class or get a good grade on a test. I'm not pursuing any advanced degrees (although if I continue my current trend of one summer school class a year, I could complete a Th.M. degree in about fourteen more years). The reason I continue to study God's Word is to be able to obey it more completely and communicate it more precisely and accurately.
The words of 2 Timothy 2:15 are often an encouragement and challenge to me when I study. I realize the old English word "study" that the King James Version employs has nothing to do with studying as we know it, but the rest of the verse does. "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."
I aim to study (and live, for that matter) in a way that will be approved by God. I want to receive his commendation as a diligent and obedient servant, one who knows he has done his best. The goal is to handle the Word of God carefully and accurately, viewing myself as "a steward of the mysteries of God" (1 Cor 4:1).
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