Can you think of a time when you forgot to take care of something, which led to the result of it becoming ruined? This has happened to me rather too many times over the years, as I will sometimes forget to put things away. I had a bicycle one time that I carelessly left out in the rain over the summer, and by the time that I decided that I wanted to go and ride it, I soon discovered that the bike chain had become stiff from all of the rust that had grown on it. I hadn’t taken care of my bike by oiling up my chain regularly and storing it inside and the result of my careless neglect was a unusable bicycle.
Much like my bike, some people can neglect to take care of their Christian faith and their time with God, and it can completely ruin their future in the Kingdom of Heaven if they do not make the necessary corrections in their life. This is why Paul greatly urged Timothy to give attendance to the things of the Word of God, and to surround his life with God’s teachings.
1 Timothy 4:13-16 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 them that hear thee.
The word neglect is defined as “to fail to care for or attend to something.” Additionally, it means to “omit to treat with attention or respect, or to fail to carry out something due to oversight or carelessness.”
You can really tell what things are important to a person by the way that they treat them, can’t you? Take an example of a child who has just gotten their driver’s license for the first time, and their parents give them a cheaper starter vehicle to use until they become more experienced. Some young adults may take that gift of a used car and treat it very well by maintaining the car’s engine properly and by driving responsibly, while some may instead stomp the pedal to the floor as they accelerate from a dead stop, and fail to even bother to check the fluids in the engine. You can easily see who it is that really appreciates what they have been given, and who does not care in the least.
In the church, why do we gather together? It is to learn about the word of God, what His will is for us, and to worship our Creator, isn’t it? As well as our own daily study of the Bible and our personal time with the Lord, when we consistently maintain our relationship with the Lord it shows that we truly love Him and desire to continually grow in our faith more and more.
Titus 2:6-8 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.
In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
When something is a pattern, it repeats. You can look at a set of numbers in a pattern and will be able to discern what number will come next, even though it may not be revealed next. 1,2,3,1,2….? What’s next? 3. It is repeated. We are called in the church to have a pattern of good works, and to do this we must continue to maintain our faith on a daily basis.
How can we do this? Daily study of the God’s Word, consistent works that show our faith in the Lord, and our continual obedience to the teachings of Christ. A life that shows our faith, and one that is active all of time.
Is yours like this?
In Christ
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 