How's Your Training Going?

All this football talk is making me wonder how we are doing in our own spiritual training? How are we working out our own spiritual muscles? My bible reading yesterday showed me what we need to be trained in. 

1 Timothy 4:6-16 is a passage where Paul is talking to Timothy and telling him what he can do to be a good servant of Christ Jesus. I think there are a few things in here that show us what we need to focus our training on.

  6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive,because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. 11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and a your hearers.

Here is the list I put in the side of my bible about this passage:

What to focus my training on:

*tell the brothers what they word says

*train in the words of faith and good doctrine

*have nothing to do with irreverent myths - myths period - my chapter in proverbs today (ch. 26) told us to avoid the whisperer and why =TROUBLEMAKER

*train yourself for godliness - godliness is of value in every way - it holds the promise for the present life and the life to come

Command and teach these things:

*set an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, purity

*devote yourself to public reading of scripture, exhortation, teaching

*don't neglect our gifts

*practice these things, immerse yourself in them so that all will see your progress

*keep a close watch on yourself and your teaching

*persist in this

Don't you love those words: train, devote, practice, immerse, close watch, persist? We sure have a job to here! Sounds like a hard core football practice to me. Let's train not just the physical body but our spiritual one as well. Many of you know that I am using the Professor Horner's Bible reading plan to read my bible each day. I have also been doing a couple other things that has been helping enrich and challenge me in studying God's word. If you are brave enough - listen to David Platt's secret church teaching on how to study your bible. (It is long but WELL worth it) Every paragraph or so I am
trying to write a purpose for what I think about the paragraph I just read. It doesn't have to be long or very theological. Just my thoughts of what I just read. Or I put a name with a date by it if it is something I prayed for my kids or family or friends. Or I might just write, "we want this to be true of our family." You get my point. (I use a journaling bible that has blanks on the margin where I can write. If you need extra help with how to study the bible, I would recommend "the New Inductive Study Bible because it
tells you how to study each book. There are other journaling bibles out there but these don't have quite as many "helps" in them.) The other thing that I have added is one of my favorite easy to read and follow commentaries by Warren Wiersbe. It is called the Chapter-by-chapter Bible commentary. It is a small book and can go anywhere with you. It is the best for just a quick understanding of what you just read. It is also very helpful in understanding what is going on in a chapter. Just make sure you read the
chapter first before going to the commentary. Also, when I start a new book,
I read this summary about each book before I start, "Making the Bible Clear," by Fred Lowery. I realize that is a bit different that Pro. Horner's intention of reading the bible, I have also turned it into a study time and is working better for me. Others are reading these chapters and doing a separate study time. You decide what works best for you. I might change later but liking this right now. It might be that you have to split it up and only do 5 chapters a day. You figure out what works best for you to train yourself in godliness. Just keep doing it!