Rabbi Schneider - How To Get God's Approval
Paul wrote a letter to his son in the faith, Timothy, and he told Timothy to be careful to present himself as one that is accurately handling the Word of God. Let me read the Scripture, 2nd Timothy 2:15, to us for a second here today. "Be diligent..". Paul is speaking to Timothy, "to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth". In other words, we need to study the Scriptures and know the Scriptures so that we can accurately communicate the Scriptures.
Now, I know that when some of you are hearing this, you feel a little bit intimidated because some of you don't feel like you're great at memorizing scripture and great at maybe, you know, understanding the Scriptures.
And I just want to encourage you. Just be diligent every day to read from God's Word, whether it's a lot or a little. Every day, read something out of God's Word. And the more that you read God's Word, the more that you'll be able to recall it and share it with other people, thus fulfilling Paul's admonition to Timothy. You'll be able to accurately handle the word of truth.
And don't just spend all your time listening to other people talk about God's Word. Study it for yourself, beloved, study it for yourself. It's very important for you to study God's Word for yourself, whether you have a discipline, Bible plan, whether you're reading a chapter from the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament a day, and a chapter from the New Testament a day. However much it is that you're reading, read for yourself every single day and make it a discipline.
And don't give yourself a excuse for missing a day. Regardless of what's going on in your life, don't give yourself an excuse. Form a habit. And you know what? God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. And He'll reward you for making a disciplined daily habit of reading from His Word.