Welcome to Day 15 of The Challenge! Our verse to memorize is II Timothy 2:15:
~
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. "
~
The Amplified Version exposes this verse in a new light; "Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing (rightly handling and skillfully teaching) the word of truth."
Wow, a lot packed into just one verse! This brings to mind Ecclesiastes 9:10, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, wither thou goest."
What comes to mind when I read this verse is a runner! I for one, love to run, we can picture a runner who strives to please his trainer in everything that he does. He works and works with all the instruction that his trainer gives him, it is most likely a 
long and painful process. What the runner may not visualize is that when the time of the race is come, as long as he has been faithful to his training he won’t need to worry about being "ashamed" in coming in behind, but will set his eyes in confidence on the prize. With the training and confidence that he can count on, it will be a simple task for him to be able to help others learn how to run also!
And so it is with our spiritual lives, If we are faithful in striving to please God in everything we do (and it could be long and painful process) we needn’t be ashamed. And through our difficult times or trails in life, we will be able to see them in a new light as building blocks that we will have to show others what God has brought us through.
~ Thomas Paine
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January 15th, 2009 at 5:17 am
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts Thomas. A worry of mine is that I won’t be a “good Christian” because maybe I don’t fit the colloquialisms. But my goal should be what Christ will think of me, not others.
In Christ,
Tim E.
P.S. Did anyone else notice that one of America’s founding fathers wrote this note?
January 15th, 2009 at 11:06 am
I’ve never thought of running the race in relation to others before. Not only are we running the race set before us with our eyes fixed on the mark, but at the same time the Lord is using our life example that is committed to Him to show others how to live life victoriously while enduring hardness. This is incredible! Thanks so much for sharing, Thomas!
January 15th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
A good word, Thomas! I like the extra adjectives that the Amplified Version uses: “be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved.”
A great example to me of this verse is my younger brother Jonathan (he’s the guy reading his Bible in the top picture). He has been memorizing two verses a day in order to complete II Timothy 2 in half the time . . . and yesterday he quoted the entire chapter to Mom! Go Jonathan! You’re a great example to me of one who studies to “show himself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
January 15th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
This verse also reminds me of something Oswald Chambers said – “If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us and that is where the sting comes in…”. When we present ourselves to the Lord as a living sacrifice and study Scriptures diligently, we either cause those around us to rejoice (Ps. 119:76), or hate us (Ps. 119:86-87).
January 16th, 2009 at 12:18 am
II Cor. 10:18 “For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.” As we were reciting this for our Command of Christ memory verse this morning, one word stood out to me—approved. “Why, that’s the same word that’s in our Challenge verse for today!” I thought. “I wonder if it’s the same Greek word.” I looked it up and sure enough it was! I thought it was really unique how the Lord put these two memory verses on the same day.
Pretty much anything that a person diligently applies himself to will pay off in the end, despite the difficulties encountered. Diligently applying myself to piano practice always pays off when, in the end, I play it well; whether at a lesson or during a presentation. There is then no need to be ashamed that I did not prepare myself adequately through necessary practice. There have been times (and I still experience them) that I have repeatedly practiced and practiced and gone over and over a piece of music, and it all feels like it was in vain. But I have found that persistence has always paid off, and it shows when I play the piece the next day and play it perfectly. It is wonderful when that happens!
So in my own life, if I am diligent and faithful to persistently study God’s Word, memorize and meditate on it, and apply it, I will have no need to be ashamed of failing to have done so to my fullest when I see Him and He awards me according to what I did. I have often heard the quote, “The test of maturity is how long a person can wait between achievement and reward.” That quote never fails to challenge me whenever I hear it, and that is something I still work on. I have to remember that God may not always immediately reward faithfulness or obedience to Him. It may not be until I get to heaven that His rewards may come! Oh, “it will be worth it all, when we see Jesus!”
Thank you for the reminder to apply myself wholeheartedly to each task that God gives me so that I will have no cause to be ashamed.