Sunday, 26 August 2007

Bible texts for men [Part3]

2
1 Timothy 4:12-16

Let no one despise your youth,
but be an example to the believers in word,
in conduct,
in love,
in spirit,
in faith,
in purity.
Till I come, give attention to;
reading,
to exhortation,
to doctrine.
Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.
Meditate on these things;
give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.
Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.
Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
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About Boaly
Gary has been involved in printing the Scriptures for 20 years, enjoys photography and rambling online

2 comments:

Tim Millen said...

Once again, thanks for your post brother. The Lord really spoke yo me through this passage when I read it there. It's so clear and straight to the point. What do you think Paul means when he talks about Timothy's gift "which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership."?? Always been a pit puzzled by that bit.

Boaly said...

To be honest, I almost left that verse out since i'm not entirely sure of its meaning to us! But since all scripture is given by inspiration I had no alternative but to let it speak to us.

I think the main meaning to us is that we, like Timothy are exhorted to use the Spiritual Gifts that God has given us and not to neglect them, these were given for ministry to others and not to use them would be the neglect of ministry which God has enabled us for.

Concerning the "prophecy" I would guess that at some point elders in the Church, perhaps Paul included, layed hands on him and were given supernatural spiritual insight and a prophecy of the gifts that Timothy had received.

To us today God doesn't generally work this way so I guess it could mean to that these gifts are recognized by others and that others encourage us to use them, confirming that we have those gifts!

It would be great to see elders call, lay hands upon, pray for, recognize and encourage young men to use thier gifts more in our day.

But as already stated we ought not neglect those gifts which God has given us!

Just my thoughts, as to answer what that passage means!

What do you think bro?