Tuesday, September 27

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2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

A number of years ago I heard a South American evangelist named Nilsson Fanini tell a story about a village in Africa. He had traveled with a team of “agricultural missionaries” to a remote region of Africa that had been experiencing severe famine. Their mission was to teach the local African farmers new methods of farming that would maximize their crops under very difficult circumstances. But along with their agricultural expertise they also brought something like 1000 Bibles to give to the local church. Dr. Fanini said that, upon their arrival, somehow word leaked out that they had Bibles with them and when they woke up the next day they discovered a line of people standing in the early morning darkness hoping to receive Bibles. The line was over a mile long.

Growing up in a culture where Bibles are readily available in almost any bookstore, in many homes and in most hotel rooms, it’s hard to imagine such hunger for God’s word. Why would people who were in danger of starvation stand in line for hours just for a chance to have their own copy of the Bible?

Jesus said it this way,

“Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

Perhaps those African villagers remind us that there is a part of each one of us that is hungry for more than food. Deep down in that part of us that we call the heart – or the soul – we are each hungry for love; hungry to know that we were created for a purpose; hungry to know how to live in a way that brings joy and peace; hungry to know that our lives have meaning; hungry to know what happens to us after we die. But how do we satisfy that inner hunger? Read the text again:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Just as those agricultural missionaries could equip African farmers with the knowledge, techniques and tools they needed to grow food in an arid climate, so God’s word equips us with knowledge and instruction that allow us to grow good things in our lives. Sometimes God’s word will teach; sometimes it will correct; sometimes it will discipline; sometimes it will train; but notice that the purpose of all this is to equip us for every good work.

Here are a few questions to consider. How equipped are you when it comes to God’s word? Do you regularly seek the guidance of God’s word in areas of obedience and righteousness? Is God’s word producing more and more “good works” in and through your life? And finally, how hungry are you for God’s word? Most of us have stood in line to buy something we don’t need in a store – or waited to get a table at a favorite restaurant – but would we stand in line all night for the chance to have our own copy of God’s word?

Ask God to increase your appetite for his word so that your soul may be satisfied!

Pastor Brian Coffey