- 2 Timothy 2:15 (NKJV) Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
It was Mark Twain who said: “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
The same can be said for truth; there can be a world of difference between the truth and speaking truthfully. You can speak truthfully without ever getting to the truth of the matter.
As preachers and teachers we are dealers of truth. We do not have the luxury to be loose and free with the truth. Our goal is not to just fill space in the service talking or entertaining or motivating and encouraging; we are to give our people the truth of God. At the end of the day only the truth will set people free. As Thomas Oden in his book Life in the Spirit put it: “One cannot be saved by that which is not true.”
Today I must remind you to weigh carefully what you say and how you say it. Preaching and teaching is not just talking; it is communicating divine truth for the saving of lost mankind. That is why learning the art of carefully crafting your message is so important (see last Saturday’s briefing).
For example when Jesus said: “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40), He is not speaking of physically “seeing” Him; if that were so then everyone would be doomed except for the few that saw Jesus during his time on earth before his ascension.
What he meant is discerning the truth about who he is and believing in Him. That was the point of John’s Gospel – he gave “signs” that pointed beyond themselves to a truth about Jesus.
For example, it’s not enough to rejoice about Jesus feeding the multitude and thus will take care of us also; we must see that Jesus is the Bread of Life. Otherwise, the account of the feeding of the five thousand is just another good story that we could tell truthfully but it would have no life-changing truth included.
Bottom line, declaring the truths of God is a weighty and awesome responsibility. No wonder Paul wrote to Timothy instructing him to: Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
That is my desire and prayer for you (and me) today.
The ONE THING 