God Breathed



Pray: Father God, You have faithfully given all that I need to know You, love You, and live for You. Please allow me this time of prayer and study to increase that love and grow my faith. Pour out Your Spirit that I might understand what I read and hear Your voice clearly. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Read: 2 Timothy 3:12-17
http://www.esvbible.org/2 Timothy 3:12-17

Think about It: One of the miracles we hold in our hands every single day (hopefully) is the Word of God. And yet we are often very cavalier about the Word and our attention to it. If we truly believe the words of 2 Timothy, we would perhaps take a more sober view of this extraordinary gift.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for  reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

Reading God’s Word is not like reading any other book for the Holy Spirit inspired the Word to be written. This means that God is the author. Yes, we can be inspired by something written by another human, but those words do not have the power to change our lives or bring us into the faith. Paul shares the idea in his letter to the Corinthians. “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words” (1 Corinthians 2:12, 13). So not only did the Spirit give the Word, He also comes to us when we read it and helps us to understand what we are taking into our minds and hearts. It is all His work. 

In one brief verse, Paul tells Timothy that God’s Word is able to accomplish much in the life of the reader. These Words are able to equip us for the work God puts before us. They are able to teach us how to obey the commands of God. The Scriptures are useful in rebuking us. That means to expose our sin and bring us to a place of repentance. The Scriptures tell us exactly what God deems as sinful and causes us to understand what He had to do through Jesus Christ to redeem us from that grasp of our sin. God’s Word also corrects our bad behavior and is an important tool in bringing about restoration to those who fall. And the Scripture trains us in the ways of God. 

If the Bible is capable of so much, why are we so resistant to reading it on a regular basis? Because our flesh doesn’t really want to surrender to the work of God in our lives. We would rather not obey the commands of God or place ourselves under His scrutiny, revealing our sinfulness. But, as His children, redeemed by the blood of Jesus, we can relish each and every Word, allowing our lives to be examined by Him and engaging in that training process that develops godly character. The person who spends time in the Word learns how to love God and hungers after even more of that life-giving gift.

Pray: Father, I want to know Your Word more and more. Please help me to submit myself to Your Word every day of my life so that You are forming and shaping who I become. Thank You for this spectacular gift and help me to come joyfully to the study of this Word. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

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