The Word of God

2 Timothy 3:15-17New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God^[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

This verse celebrates the multiple functionality of God’s word. We often underestimate how powerful God’s word is and how practical it is. This normally leads to a spiritual and physical divide when indeed the word is to inspire a better life that should manifest outwardly for people to see and be inspired. Our deeds can show how deeply we are influenced by His word. I bet you had a fair idea but this verse will open your eyes even wider to how and why this is possible. Let’s dig in.

Word from Heaven

The word of God is designed for the purpose of Salvation. The scripture says that everything in the Bible is God-breathed. Meaning the word is inspired from Heaven. Hence each word is designed and chosen carefully to draw us closer to Jehovah through spiritual intimacy. So a daily or a regular devotion to God’s word is paramount to understanding, knowing, pleasing and having a strong relationship with God. His word is key to having faith. His word is full of hope and promises of a better life through Christ both here and in heaven.  In order to believe, we need to build our faith so we can boldly claim what is promised to us by virtue of being His children.

Its Purposes

This verse reveals the multiple purposes of God’s word. The word ‘useful’ in this text implies that salvation isn’t the only thing God’s word is there for. There is teaching (or counsel) where the Bible advises us on how best we approach daily situations to God’s glory. The Bible is full of wise words and examples of people who turned to God in the midst of trouble times, or who worshiped in thanksgiving and provides us with the ultimate example of a life that should be emulated if we want to be Shepherds of his flock, the life of Jesus Christ.

There is rebuking, where the Bible shows us what to say and do in the midst of temptation, adversity and spiritual attack from the enemy.

Then there is correcting, showing us the right and the wrong way to live for Christ as well as ways in which we can make the most of our daily lives in an acceptable manner.

And then training, showing the various prayer methods, prayers, regimens that people in the Bible adopted and times where these thing were relevant so we know what to pray for, how to pray, when to pray and how to pray for others in such a manner that falls in line with God’s ultimate purpose. Apart from prayer, it also educates us on the way to carry ourselves to show others our spiritual allegiance to Christ, hence inspiring others to be changed by Him.

The common denominator is the fact that all these facets of God’s word have to be done in righteousness, meaning all these things have to be done using the Bible as a frame of reference.

Lastly, the verse concludes by giving a condition that all these things that the Bible teaches us are to equip us to be efficiently equipped to do good works to His glory. Think of everything you do on this earth as an avenue to bring somebody closer to God. Your position, situation, troubled times, joyful moments, blessing, network of people and life as a whole is God’s assignment to bring a better life to someone. But you won’t be able to make the most of it if you are not guided by the spirit. This is why God through Christ sent the Holy Spirit to show us the way. Constant reference to the word will keep the spirit ignited so we can be influenced by its power to change someone’s life.

Our prayer is that the word guides us to be an example of righteousness to someone through deeds and actions. May we be inspired to depend on his word when in doubt. May we apply His word to any aspect of our life so indeed; the outside world sees His heavenly influence in our lives.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

  

byNestorAnkuvie   #inspiration  #word  #devotion #Blessing