Chris Sanzaro - 2 Timothy 2:15

The Bible

2 Timothy 2:15

Be diligent to present yourselves approved to God as a workman who does not need be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth   NASB

What I hear God saying in this verse is this:

Be diligent to present yourselves to God.  He is speaking to the church.  The church is you and me.  We need to be diligent as we present ourselves to Him.  He is saying, “be intentional and committed”.  

Approved, how can we present ourselves as approved to God?  Who has the authority to approve?  He

alone has the authority to approve.  In order to be approved, we must be in Him, submitted to Him.  We

must draw near to Him.  When we do, He draws near to us.

He gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice to pay the debt of our sins at the cross.  He has cleansed us, so now we are approved to be offered (or in other words presented) to God.

We are presented as a workman.  We are created to work.   What kind of work are we made to do?  We are made to work in many ways.  All of our work is to glorify The Lord. 

Now we see He says “workmen need not be ashamed”.  Who should we not be ashamed in the presence of?  Well, we need not be ashamed in the presence of man because we serve the Almighty God.  We also need not be ashamed in His presence, because He knows all things.  We can’t hide anything from Him, but more importantly, He anointed us a royal priesthood.  He is the reason we need not be ashamed.

The last little piece, which is not exactly little, is He wants us to accurately handle the Word of Truth.  So how do we do this?  First we must know this Truth.  Who is Truth?  It is Christ Jesus.  His Word is given to us.  In order to accurately handle the Word of Truth we need to know it.  Being in the Word, obeying, studying, meditating, praying continually, discussing, fellowshipping and practicing spiritual disciplines helps us to know His Word.  When we do this He gives us revelation. Revealing His majesty and grace.  We are given understanding of how much He loves us.  This is what we are to share with everyone in our lives.  It is an amazing gift.

Those of you who know me, know I enjoy connecting with people.  When given the opportunity I bring the conversation to God.  I want to speak of the great gift He bestowed upon me.  When I talk with people I listen.  Often times I ask permission to pray for them, other times we discuss scripture, and occasionally we talk about the great gift He bestowed upon me, one of which is the joy James describes in his epistle.

One day when I was on a job site I saw the job super looking distraught.  I prayed for her.  I told her that I had prayed for her, she is Muslim.  When she heard that I prayed for her she smiled very brightly.  Since then she has asked for more prayer, including prayer for her nephew. 

Another day I announced myself at a job site to security.  The conversation struck up as he apologized for evicting me on my initial visit.  He then began to tell me of a woman who the day before, hopped up into the garden beds and began to eat the shrubs.  A little unusual to say the least, except it reminded me of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel Chapter 4.  So I asked him if he read the bible.  He responded with an emphatic “yea”.  Then I asked him if he knew he story of the king in Daniel who ate grass.  Shaking his head he said he was not familiar with the account.  Before leaving to begin my work I told him to go home open the bible and read Daniel.  I hope he does.

Lastly, I want to share an event that happened yesterday.  It began months ago when I was told by a very powerful and wealthy man that his son’s fiancée was very sick, with cancer.  I asked him her name, and he reluctantly told me.  I told him we would pray for her.  As it turns out she works in his office, and is running a job that I am working on.  While speaking on the phone I told her that the men in our church had been praying for her.  She was very surprised and I think uplifted.  She said it was difficult sometimes, but she was getting through it.  I had the opportunity to speak of the amazing gift of God’s presence in all His children’s lives. 

So ask yourself if you are ashamed to speak of the great gift God bestowed upon you?  If you are, get to know Him better, surrender, submit and obey.

Chris Sanzaro and his family have attended Hope Church for some time now.  He is an elder in the church.