Dig Deeper & Hold Tight

How often have you been told to read your Bible every single day? I know I hear it weekly at church and growing up I was advised nearly every day from my parents. I will admit that sometimes it is hard to work up the motivation to read and dig into the word – especially, when I’m in a part that is hard to read. I used to feel like reading my Bible was a duty, but now I look at it as more of a treat. One of the ways that I have grown to love reading scripture is through daily devotionals. I have several apps on my phone that give me a verse of the day then I challenge myself to read the rest of the chapter later on in the day. Another guide that I have is Proverbs 31 Ministry and their “First 5” app. I originally downloaded the app to dedicate the first five minutes of the day to reading verses and words about those verses but then I was intrigued by their Bible study. My mom, sister and I are now working through the 25-day experience guide for 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, James, and 1, 2, & 3 John. Each day we have something to read on our phones, a chapter to read out of the Bible, then questions to answer in the book. It’s a great way to interpret the objective of that chapter and see the meaning beyond the words. When we go through the Bible, we typically stay in the Gospel, the first few chapters of Genesis and the Psalms, so I hadn’t explored Timothy in depth. I loved each chapter so much that my blog post this week is about breaking down each chapter and pulling out the important parts to apply to our lives. I hope you can find a daily devotional or something to motivate you to dig deeper into the word and truly get to know Jesus more.

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It is truly satisfying to start something and finish it. When I read all 6 chapters of 1 Timothy, I could see a story from the beginning to the end. In this letter, Paul is writing to a young pastor, Timothy, to give him encouragement. Let’s unfold this book, take these words and relate them to our lives.

1 Timothy 1:5- “The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. But some people have missed the whole point.”

What is your purpose? Name the goal in your life that when you die someday, you can look back and say, “I fulfilled my purpose.” I know God wants all of us to go make disciples and spread the good news and I know that He wants us to populate heaven. So even if you didn’t think you had a purpose, you do. Paul is doing that by filling people with love. We all need to strive to fulfill our purpose for our Heavenly Father and we can do that by having a pure heart, a clear conscience and genuine faith - Faith that can move mountains, faith that can make miracles happen and faith that even though we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, we can trust Him.

1 Timothy 1:15-16- This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” –and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in Him and receive eternal life.

Wow, isn’t that awesome? That no matter what our past looks like, if we accept Jesus into our heart and believe that He saved us by dying on the cross, that we will have eternal life. God’s mercy is endless because He loves us that much. I hear people saying, "I used to do bad things so God doesn’t love me.” That is absolutely false. He loves you more than anyone else ever could. His love is eternal – we can’t even fathom it. Encourage those who haven’t had a relationship with Christ that it’s never too late to pursue Him because even the worst of all sinners can be forgiven.

1 Timothy 2:1-3- “I urge you, first of all to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.”

When we pray, we need to remember to not just think about ourselves but other people – even the ones we don’t like. We must pray for our family, friends, enemies, students, coworkers, strangers, our government, our nation, people who are hurting that we don’t know, and people who haven’t found Him yet. If we want to make a difference in the lives of others, we must start by praying for them.

1 Timothy 4:12- “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.”

It’s like Paul was talking directly to us. Truly, as a young person, we can make a difference and impact the lives of those around us without even trying – so if we do try, imagine the influence that could be made. People hear what we say even if we don’t think so, people watch the way we live without making it seem like it, they admire the way we love others by showing kindness and compassion and look up to us because of our faith and purity. Be that example for someone who needs it.

1 Timothy 6:6-12- “True godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into this world and we can’t take anything with us when leave it. Run from all of the evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you.”

When we hold tight to eternal life and compare it to our earthly life, doesn’t it make sense to pursue Him in all that we do and center our lives on making that eternal impact on others? We did not bring anything with us into this world and we cannot take anything with us, but we can try our best to open our hearts to others so that they too can experience eternal life. As we wrap up this book in the Bible we can see what we can do each and every day to glorify God and complete the tasks He has set up for us to achieve before spending eternity with Him.

This week I challenge you to first, find a book in the Bible to dig deeper into. Skim it, read it then interpret it. Break it down. Seek the words that draw near to your heart. Apply those words to your life and enjoy being in the moment with God. Find an app, a Bible study or a book to help you. And secondly, follow these words that Paul had for Timothy. Live a purpose driven life, show others His mercy, pray for all people, be an example for others, and hold tight to that eternal life God has called us to – He wants us to make an eternal difference the lives of others.

https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions