One of the last things the apostle Paul passed along to his apprentice and team member, Timothy, was this statement:

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV, emphasis added).

Why would Paul say this? I think it is because he, like other biblical leaders, firmly believed in the power of God’s Word to change lives and to change our world!

One of the early leaders of The Navigators, Leroy Eims, is reported to have said, “Become an expert of God’s Word and you’ll never be out of a job!”

We live in a world filled with people challenged by broken hearts, loneliness, disease, relational dysfunction, and other life difficulties. Each of us needs guidance from somewhere. We must decide whether we’ll find the answers for life, and the power for living in this crazy world, from God’s Word or from somewhere else. And even more important, will we be conduits of truth into the lives of others who desperately need an answer for their current lives?

Dialogue with the Lord as you consider these words:

But if I say, “I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.

I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot (Jeremiah 20:9 NIV, emphasis added)

“Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29 NIV, emphasis added)

God’s Word is not meant to be kept inside of us! In fact, when it is igniting our souls, in the way it is meant to, it will be uncontainable. The impact in the lives of others will be powerful—like a hammer that breaks rock into pieces (an unimaginable thing during Jeremiah’s time!). God’s Word is powerful and life altering for us, and for those we share it with.

Are there truths or ideas from the Scriptures that someone in your family, or a friend, need right now? Could you be the one to deliver God’s message of hope, correction, or consolation to them?