LIVING WORD

2 Timothy 4:2              

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction. 2 Timothy 4:2

This verse speaks of the great essentials that must be carried on to fulfill the prayer of our Lord and to advance the kingdom of God and bring to fulfillment the amazing work that began by His first appearing upon the earth. When we read the phrase "preach the Word," most of us think that this is addressed to preachers like me, that one has to do this in church, on a platform, or behind a pulpit.

These verses are not addressed to preachers only. They Include all the people of God. In today's relative world when absolute truth is being refuted on all sides and the Word of God is treated with derision by both secular as well as religious 'authorities’, we need to pin our colors to the mast of our lives and be ready, at all times and in every place, to preach the Word.

Whether convenient or not, in season and out of season, we should be ready and prepared to patiently preach the truth of scripture, not only with our words but in our lives. Not only with our actions but with our attitudes. Not only in our behavior but in the hidden motives that rule our thinking. To preach the truth in love may require us to patiently and compassionately correct a brother or sister who has been led astray from the Word of truth.

It may require us to follow scriptural guidelines to rebuke or challenge a person or ministry, but any admonishment should never be aggressively or deliberately confrontational. Preaching the Word is often to encourage and exhort the body of Christ as we watch and wait for the any-day return of the Lord Jesus for His church, but it should always reflect Christ's gracious character.

To preach the Word does not mean to teach others what you think it says, what you would like it to say, or what others conclude that it says. It means to preach what God literally says in His Word, in the context in which it is written without seeking to allegorize the scripture or read an alternative meaning into the Word. God has spoken in His Word, and we would do well to take note of what He says. Then we truly will be equipped to live out these verses!!!

Father, thank You for this day and for the revealed truth of your Word. Lord, let Your abundant blessings flow over my friends and family today. Lord, we pray that our lives, in word and deed, may be a sermon to others. Lord, give us, we pray, a correct understanding of the truth of Your Word. Lord, prevent us from adding our own fallible interpretation of Your Word, but may we rightly divide and preach the Word of truth. Lord, use us as voices of Your truth to all today.

Father, we love You. Amen.