Devotional #21

Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

~2 Timothy 4:2 (NKJV)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are commanded over and over in Scripture to preach the Word, to witness, to always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us, etc. But so often, we don't always obey this command. And, just like with the rest of God's commands, if we don't obey this one, we're in sin.

We cannot, however, hope to preach the Word if we don't know it. We have to hide God's Word in our hearts, we have to meditate on it day and night, we have to memorize it, and we have to study it over and over and over. You must be in God's Word daily if you ever hope to be able to obey God's command found in 2 Timothy 4:2. We need to be studying His Word day and night if we ever hope to truly hide it in our hearts.

As Christians, we are commanded to witness to those who are lost. But we also need to speak with those who are Christians and who aren't obeying some area of God's Word. But we have to remember this: We must speak the truth in love! We mustn't be judgemental, harsh or rude. But rather we need to act as Christ would, and speak the truth in love. There will also be times when we find ourselves in debates with those who don't have the same beliefs and convictions that we do. In fact, I've experienced this myself very recently. When in this sort of debate, we need to be bold in our speech, just as we should be when witnessing. We must be thorougly grounded in God's Word if we hope to adequately represent Christ and what His Word says. And to be grounded in His Word, once agian we must know it! We must know what it says and teaches and then we must be able to stand up for it, and to "convince, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and teaching." If we can't do this, then we will always be in the sin of not obeying this all-important command.

Another important part of this verse to remember is that it says we must be ready in season and out of season. This means we have to know the Word so well that we're ready to throw it as the sower did, whenever the opportunity arises. We can't just be waiting around for when we want to witness, and then cram all the Scripture we can into our minds at the last minute. This is being disobedient! We never know when the Lord will put us in the company of some lost person, some person who is being disobedient to the Word, or when He will put us in some debate with someone. Therefore, we must always be continuously studying God's Word, in order that we be ready in season and out of season.

God bless you all as you seek to throw His Word this week to those around you! And, if you've found yourself in a debate this week, or if you've had the opportunity to witness to someone, I would love to hear all about it! Send me an e-mail or tell me all about it in a comment!