Approved Unto God

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, right dividing the word of truth."  -2 Timothy 2:15

The photo was taken at a museum for children in Lancaster County, PA about the Amish.  Today's verse is very important to them because they make a point of seeking God's approval and not man's.  The only way to do that is to study God's word.

Studying God's word should be a lifelong habit, but then, as Oswald Chamber writes, we must find a way "re-express" these truths before we can actually claim them as our own Truth. . . .

Struggle to re-express some truth of God to yourself, and God will use that expression to someone else.....Our position is not ours until we make it ours by suffering [i.e. applying it in our own lives].  The author who benefits you most is not the one who tells you something you did not know before, but the one who gives expression to the truth that has been dumbly struggling in you for utterance."

This is why Christians are judged so harshly by the unsaved world, and rightly so.  Who are we to tell others how to live if we ourselves aren't living that way?  We must study God's word (and apply) to show that our lives are approved by God.  It is only as we obey His Word in us, that He is able to work out our salvation so that we can be in a close relationship with Him.  It is this relationship that others will see and desire for themselves.

I am grateful that God's word is a living entity that brings me into a close relationship with Him.