2 Timothy 2:15

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB)

I cited this passage in my sermon this past Sunday and it has come up in my recent study with our youth group.  There are three words in this text that I want to focus on today.

Diligent - The command to open the verse is a command that requires us to exist in a state of diligence.  When I think of diligent, I think of attention to detail and in the case of the context, we are to pay attention to how we are presenting ourselves before God.  And the second word gives us a concept of how we are to present ourselves to God

Workman- Specifically, this workman that we are to be is to be a workman that does not need to be ashamed.  This implies that there are workmen (and women) that will present themselves to God and be ashamed.  This concept of shame is a difficult one for us to understand sometimes.  We are to present ourselves to God in a way that is free from shame.  And the third word tells us how we can do this.

Accurately - The way to be unashamed before God is to accurately handle the word of truth that has been entrusted to us.  We are to accurately handle the Word.  We are to accurately handle the Gospel truth that has been given to us.  Again this implies that there are inaccurate ways to handle the Word given to us.  And so we are to work hard to make sure that we are understanding and using the Word of God correctly. 

I think that if we use this in reverse and understand that our accurate presentation of the Word of God is how we present ourselves to God without shame it would put a fire in our Bible Study.  It would mean we do not simply read to mark a checklist off, but desire to understand and dive deep into what His Word is teaching us.  And we would do so with a diligence that is unmatched!

To God be the glory!