2 Timothy 3: 16-17 – All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training
Do you need more training?
in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
All Scripture is God-breathed
Straight from the horse’s mouth. We get our scripture from the highest authority. It is not the words of mere men, but is God breathed. That’s a big deal. When the phrase straight from the horse’s mouth is used, it was originally used to say that you got a good tip on a horse. The people who inevitably knew the most about the horses were the trainers, and if your horse won the race, it was those in the winners circle…the inner circle. But who could know more about that horse than the inner circle? Only the horse. That’s why a tip straight from the horse’s mouth would be the best tip. In the same way, scripture is our inside scoop. It’s the information the world doesn’t know about. We’re not getting our information from just anywhere, not even from people close to the action, but straight from the most reliable source. This is good news for you and I, because it means that we can stand strong on the precepts that we read and learn from scripture. It is like a love letter from God.
Useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness
The scriptures are like our handbook for life. It is God’s textbook for us to know what is right and wrong, how to be saved, how to treat others, and how to give Him the glory. 1 Corinthians 10:31 – “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Everything we need to know is wrapped up in this one book. It’s not a very long book considering all the information it holds. I have often wondered at different times throughout my life, “What is God’s plan for me?”. Scripture is the only way to find that out. He created us for His glory, and scripture gives us example so how to and not to give Him glory. We don’t always love to be taught, rebuked, corrected or trained, but we need it. It is essential to our well-being, and I don’t know about you, but I need to relearn things all the time. I learn them, practice them, ignore them and then fail, wondering where I went wrong. As I look to scripture, God’s word, I am reminded of my mistakes and encouraged towards change that will bring God glory.
So that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work
When we get training, education or correcting, there is always a goal in mind (or there should be). Reading scripture, and using it for training, teaching and correcting allows me to be more thoroughly equipped for every good work. I don’t know if you have ever had a job where you didn’t feel like you were being trained properly. Maybe your trainer stunk, or you just weren’t getting it, but either way, it didn’t make the work very enjoyable, productive or useful. God want’s our work to be useful, productive and enjoyable. He has provided us with the information we need to be properly trained. I don’t know about you, but I think there are probably a few things I need a remedial course on. I think as our lives change and we grow, the Lord reveals exactly what we need to find in scripture. But it doesn’t pop out of the book when you just leave it on the shelf, so I find myself with a need to create a discipline of reading His word. I do it by doing Bible studies. I find that’s a great way for me to dig deeper, but I think also just taking time to read His word without a goal in mind is useful. I have been long considering a Bible that leads you through reading the entire scripture, and I think that I may need to invest in one soon. I want to develop more fully and find true success in the Lord.
Do you need more training?
God is... 