“Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.” – 1 Timothy 4:15
Paul was writing from prison in Rome, and he was beginning to pass his mantle to Timothy. The work God was placing in Timothy’s hands would not be easy. Timothy was being entrusted to watch over the churches Paul had planted, to care for them faithfully, and to carry on the ministry that had begun through Paul’s own hardship and suffering.
When Paul says, “Meditate on these things,” he is telling Timothy to meditate on the Word of God. Just a few verses earlier, Paul had already said, “Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” In other words, Timothy must fill his heart and mind with Scripture. As it is written, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Joshua was preparing to lead Israel into physical battles so they could possess the promised land. Timothy, on the other hand, was being entrusted to lead the churches of God toward the true Promised Land—the kingdom of God. One fight was physical, the other spiritual. Yet both men needed the same foundation: they had to be deeply rooted in the Word of God. Only the Word could guide them, equip them, and protect the people they were called to lead.
To be immersed in the Word means to know God—to understand His nature, His character, His will, His commandments, and His ways. Without reading and meditating on Scripture, a person cannot truly know God or walk closely with Him. Familiarity with His Word strengthens our fellowship with Him, for His Word is “a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.” His Word guides us to make decisions that are pleasing in His sight, especially when dealing with His people. As the apostles declared their priority, , “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4).”
For ministers, this calling is even more serious. We must be consistent and faithful in reading, meditating on, and studying the Word of God. The people we minister to are the people of God, those He purchased with the precious blood of our LORD Jesus Christ. They do not need our opinions, they need the living Word of God, for only His Word brings life to their being. God’s Word is also our sword, because it is the truth. And when we stand upon the truth, no lie of the devil can stand. The Scriptures sharpen our discernment, expose deception, overcome falsehood, and strengthen us to stand firm in the calling that God has placed upon our lives.
Paul did not end by saying only to meditate on these things, he went further and said, give yourself entirely to them, It is not enough to read the Scriptures, we must take them in, embrace them, and let the Words of God transforms our whole being. The Lord Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Just as natural food nourishes the body, the Word of God nourishes the spirit. Bread strengthens the flesh, but Scripture strengthens the inner man.
Let me share from my own life as a minister. In my eagerness to serve God, I often found that my character had not yet been shaped for the weight of the work. But when I began to read and meditate on the Scriptures especially the life of Moses. God started to reveal so much to me through Moses’ walk with God, He brought correction, instruction, and understanding into my heart. Moses was leading Israel toward the Promised Land, yet the very people he served continually murmured against him. They doubted him, questioned his God-given authority, and even talked of stoning him. Still, every time they sinned against God, Moses fell on his face and prayed for them. He interceded for the very people who wounded him. He stood in the gap for those who opposed him.
Moses didn’t just read the Word of God. He gave himself wholly to what the Word required. The Word transformed his heart until his character reflected the very heart of God.
I truly desired to serve God, but the Lord had to teach me something deeper. Desire is good, but He needed to correct my understanding of what it really means to serve Him and He did it through His Word. He showed me that serving Him is not about choosing what I prefer or what feels comfortable. To serve Him means giving my whole self to Him and to the people He has entrusted to me even when those very people may hate me, despise me, or question me.
God made me understand that ministry is not shaped around my comfort or my preference. Ministry is about fulfilling the assignment He has entrusted to me, and that assignment can only be accomplished by walking in obedience to His Word. This is what Paul meant when he told Timothy not only to meditate on the Scriptures, but to “give thyself wholly to them.” The Word of God is God’s communication to us, and whatever He speaks, we must do despite how we feel, despite the cost, and despite the circumstances that surround us.
That is why Paul also said to Timothy, “Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” Paul was not asking Timothy to do something he himself had not lived. This was Paul’s own life. In word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity, he walked before God with a clean and obedient heart. None of God’s words fell to the ground in his life. Whatever God commanded, Paul obeyed. Whatever God required, Paul fulfilled. He lived to please God, and he pressed forward to finish the calling the Lord had placed upon him. And Paul was urging Timothy to walk in that same example just as we also are called to do.
Here we begin to understand why Paul said to Timothy, “that your progress may be evident to all.” Whatever we do in private will eventually be seen in public. For it is written, “For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad” (Luke 8:17). And again, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). What fills the heart will come out through the lips. What we practice in private will show in our actions. What we feed our spirit with will shape the way we walk. If the Word of God is shaping us in the secret place, then the fruit of that Word will be seen openly.
So when we give our whole being to reading the Word, meditating on the Word, and living in the Word of God, that work of God in us will become unmistakably evident to all. The life of a person who truly walks with God cannot be hidden. The fruit of the Word will reveal in our character, in our conduct, in our speech, in our attitude, and in the way we live before others.
As it is written,
“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” I John 2:3-6
thespeiro.com 