I think the experience of having some older, more seasoned, men of God as some kind of “tutors” is one of the most important and treasured things of my sixty-two year ministry! Paul served in this capacity for young Timothy. I Timothy 4:13-16 has been my text for this series of articles, so I will give it again here: “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine: continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and then that hear thee.”
We see the word “meditate” in verse fifteen above, so Paul is encouraging Timothy not only to read what he has written to him, but also to meditate on what he has said. We live in an era when it is sometimes hard to get the attention of those around us, especially if they happen to have their cell phones handy! I love my cell phone, so I am not knocking cell phones, but I am “knocking at the heart’s door” of those who are more engrossed in their cell phones than in a friend who is seeking to have a literal, visible conversation with them!!! The word “meditate’ means: “To think deeply and continually”, so Paul is exhorting Timothy to continue to think on the things that both he and others have told him. Meditation is also pictured in the idea of “rechewing” something, such as a cow does. When Paul asked Timothy to meditate upon these things, he evidently had in mind all the things that he had written to Timothy, but most likely many other Bible truths that were connected to Paul’s teaching. Most people in our day do not “have time”, so they say, to “meditate” on anything, but that is a terrible problem, for some things need to be considered and reconsidered a number of times!
Paul also asked Timothy to give himself wholly to these things, or the things of God of which Paul had written to Timothy. We have far too many “five minute devotions” in our day. Oh, five minutes is better than nothing, but one will not learn much about God’s Word in five minutes a day! Of course I believe those of us in the ministry should read and study more than the average person, but every believer needs to give himself, or herself, to what is written in the Word of God, in the sense that they are willing to not only take in the message, but also to act on it! Paul knew that Timothy would profit by giving himself wholly to the message of God’s Word, and he also knew that the profit of Timothy would be evident to all who saw his dedication to God. I often wonder just what other people may think of us, when they are not around us for more than a few minutes. Do they possibly think that they are in the present of a Christian, or do they wonder just which “side of the fence” we are on? I realize that we only see some people in passing, which may consist of only a few seconds, or minutes, but even then we should seek to “come across” as being different from the unbelieving world! If the profiting of Timothy could possible appear to others, may it not be that our “profiting” should be recognized by others, at least when they are in our company for perhaps a fair amount of time. A man named Charles Weigle visited the California rose gardens, but had not time to change clothes before going to preach in a church. Those in the church said, “I know you have been to the rose garden, because the fragrance in on your clothes.” There should be a “fragrance of Jesus” on us, so that others also notice it! After all, we cannot spend much time with Jesus without someone around us noticing that we do not use the language they use, or act the way they act. May we be challenged to carry the fragrance of Jesus
Wherever we go!
By J. Briggs King