Correctly Handling the Word

2 Tim 2:15  "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."  Satan knows the Bible backward and forward as he demonstrated during his temptation of Jesus, but he doesn't use it properly.  Only someone who "knows" Jesus and works to get closer to Him can correctly interpret and apply the Word.
For years this verse was quoted in the King James Version as a way to get people to study.
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Tim 2:15 (KJV)
As a matter of fact this quote is engraved on a rock at the entrance to my Alma Mater, Houghton College in upstate New York.  I don't know if it is still there but it was a constant reminder that we were commanded by the word to study hard.  Never mind that this is not an accurate translation of the Greek or that it specifically refers to the Word of God.  We were constantly reminded of this every time we came on campus.
In all fairness, this is a particularly difficult passage to translate evidenced by the fact that it is rendered slightly differently by each translation.
The New American Standard probably does it the most justice by rendering it as,  
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth."  (NASB)
In the Greek, the word that is translated as "study" in the KJV is "spoudazo" which means "to use speed, i.e. to make effort, be prompt or earnest:"  (*)  So the implication is that there is a sense of urgency to the matter.  This is not for the procrastinator.  This requires diligence.  This not about "just enough"; this requires us to do our very best. This means no excuses.
We need to dive into His Word; breath it, eat it and live it.  We need to ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom.
"If any of you lacks wisdom , he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.   James 1:5
It is not enough to have knowledge because knowledge along just puffs us up ( 1 Corinthians 8:1).  We need the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom so that we can rightly apply His Word.
If we do this then we will be like a skilled craftsman who when he finishes a job knows that it will stand up to scrutiny.
I remember hearing  a  woman tell the story of how lost she first came to this country from Africa.  She was homesick and she felt lost. She cried almost every day until she decided to take control of her life.  She started going to school in order to better herself and she got a job as a janitor.  She worked very hard and even though  her work was menial she did it to best of her ability.  When she was done mopping a floor she wanted people to know that she had mopped it because that floor was immaculate.  She took that approach to everything she did.  Today this woman has a Master's Degree and is a Senior Vice President for a prominent chain of banks.
She took this verse to heart and it has transformed everything that she has put her hand to.
We need to have a sense of urgency and dive into the Word with a sense of eternal purpose.  Then when we come before the Bema Seat we will not need to ashamed for we did our best.
(*) (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

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