Are You Nourished Up In His Word ? ( 1 Timothy 4:6-8 )

If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

1 Timothy 4:6-8

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Brothers and sisters one word that catches my eye in verse six is nourished. It takes me back in the Word to as it is written man can not live by bread alone,but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth( Deuteronomy 8:3 ). Friends the very Word of God is food for our very soul and we need it more, more than we need bread and water. Some would say I may be taking that a bit far, but is bread or water going to save your very soul from hell? No!, but the very Word of God will. Remember the Word became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ( John 1:14 ). So yes the Word will and it has a name and that name is Jesus Christ, the name which is above all names( Philippians 2:9,Ephesians 1:21 ).

Now I know the context here is the Apostle Paul addressing Timothy on being a good minister(pastor), but friends this advice is just as ample and needed for us believers today. We need to be nourished up in the Word of God daily. We need to feast on His Word daily to make it. Think about what the Apostle wrote to the church in Ephesus about spiritual warfare ( Ephesians 6:10-18 ). Do you think this only happens on the weekends or only certain days? No, this is a daily battle and to make it daily we must be renewed daily by the Word. Friends, brothers and sisters we don't just manage to wake up in morning on our own and gumption the ability to fight these battle on our own. No, this is a daily practiced living in which through as it says being nourished in the Word.

Think about the very familiar verse we all know, study to show thyself approved unto God( 2 Timothy 2:15 ). Well, does that sound like someone who is nourished up or lacking ? This my friends does really burn me to some degree when you seek to wanna sit down and talk about the Lord and honestly the depth with some people is about as deep as a small puddle after it rains. Now maybe I shouldn't get this way,but if you call yourself a Christian and love the Lord your God with all your heart then spend time getting to know Him. Why is it people know more about what movie is coming out next week or the line up for a sports team,but their lack of knowledge of God is so off balance ? The worst part is I'm not talking about people who don't attend church, I'm talking about people who attend church. My encouragement in this is have this desire for God as David wrote in Psalm 42 in the first verse, " As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. "

Moving on in verse 7 the Apostle Paul is stating steer from anything irrelevant or false. This would I do believe falls under spiritual discernment. Too often people when wanting to understand things in Christianity they will read any book and as long as they find it in the Christian book store they will say okay it must be fine. That kind of reasoning is quite stupid and not well thought through. Like I've stated recently and other times before we need to prove all things( 1 Thessalonians 5:21 ) and that includes Christian literature. Brothers and sisters I'm not trying to scare you, but just make you aware. Like I shared with a youth group before we must hold all things to the standard which is the Word of God. This doesn't mean twist the scripture to make the item fit with the scripture, but instead test it and see if it lines up with the scriptures and if so then hold fast to what is good.


Last I'd like to comment on verse 8, it says for bodily exercise profit little. The Apostle isn't here endorsing become lazy and not take care of our bodies. Instead what he is saying is that do not become so focused on your body and taking care of it that you forget what as he mentions in verse six to nourish your soul by reading the Word. You know I've seen these health junkies who get so worked on how they look and care all about physical appearance. The problem is that is in itself is very vain. It is pointless in what they don't understand is this body we have is temporary and one day shall be no more. Now as I stated this gives us no cause to be lazy,but instead be balanced. You can take care of your body in a healthy way, but at the same time not neglect your soul. I know personally I can miss a few push ups or a sit up, but to miss time in God's Word that, that is crazy. For in the Word I find the very things I need to get me day by day. I can't get those in all the workouts in all the world.

Brothers and sisters I encourage you get in His Word and be thoroughly nourished daily. Please I urge you to not take this lightly. Know this and this comes from a brother in the faith, that I make it daily by His strength. That I'm encouraged through His Word. My very heart and mind are lead by the Word of God. Friends we can not and must not think that our emotions( Jeremiah 17:9 ) or very thoughts( Proverbs 14:12 ) can be the best judge.

Good night and God bless,
John W. Whybrew III <><