A Profitable Study — 2 Timothy 3:15-17
“Remember that God’s Word has a power all its own.”
Perhaps you have heard a well-meaning parent say “I don’t want to ram religion down my child’s throat. When he is old enough, he can make his own choice.” How soon should children be taught God’s Word? And do you really need to study your own Bible when every Sunday you can hear gifted Sunday school teachers and preachers explain the Bible well?
The Apostle Paul would tell us that you cannot start early enough with the Word of God. ” And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus ” (II Timothy 3:15). Paul uses an unusual word for “child” in this verse. The Greek language in which the New Testament was written has three words for children. This is not the word for a full-grown child. Nor is it the word for a young child. Instead, this is the word for an infant or a child still inside his mother’s womb. Timothy’s mother and grandmother began to expose his spirit to the Word of God at an early age.
An infant cannot mentally comprehend Scripture. But each of us is born with a spiritual need for God that only He and His Word can fill. In spiritual warfare, every moment counts. We are to “redeem the time” for the days are “evil” and short. And what does this accomplish in the life of a child – or for that matter in the life of an adult? It leads the person to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The Word of God brings us to the Son of God so that one day we can share in the glory of God. It is never too early to train a child in God’s Word. And you are never so old that you no longer need the wisdom that is in God’s Word.
Remember that God’s Word has a power all its own. Even without a preacher to comment on the verses of the Bible, the Word can change lives. In 1970 a man in an hotel room had a stroke that left him unable to speak and paralyzed on one side. He dragged himself across the room and pulled up on the dresser. He picked up the phone and dialed the operator and made some guttural sounds into the mouthpiece hoping to get help. Then he fell against a mirror that shattered. Glass fell across the top of the dresser. The only part of the dresser not covered with broken glass was where a Gideon Bible lay. He picked up that book and began reading. And there that man met Jesus Christ. I will see him in glory because the Word of God has a power all its own.
It is more than just a power to save. It is a power to sanctify and equip the saint of God for service. The Bible does not just contain God’s Word. It IS the very Word of God. ” All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works .” How much of the Bible is God’s Word? ALL of it! How much should you study? ALL of it! Will you ask God to forgive you this morning for not being more faithful to study His Word?
Author: Robert W. Rohlin
This page was first published in The Advancer , a Sunday school teacher’s guide published by the Baptist Publishing House . It is used here with permission from the publisher.