1 Timothy 4

1 Timothy 4 … There is so much in all of these verses we can only touch on the highlights. The Apostle Paul is guiding his disciple Timothy on priorities for life and ministry as the young pastor at Ephesus, which incidentally was a large city and a tremendous pastoral responsibility. Some of the highlights to consider here include the importance of mealtime prayer (4:5), which is actually a consecration of the meal for God’s purposes. Mealtimes are important for nutrition certainly, but they also provide great opportunity for spiritual nourishment. Another highlight here is what I like to call “spiritual exercise.” This is the third (of five) “trustworthy sayings” in the pastoral letters of Paul. Verses 9-10 make it clear that this trustworthy saying is looking backward to verses 7-8, which urge training yourself in godliness. Many feel that you ought to just do what you’re comfortable doing, but reflection here would indicate that stretching your faith, applying yourself diligently, almost like rigorous athletic training, would be closer to the mark. By the way, verse 16, which encourages perseverance in a right relationship to the Word of God, is not referring to salvation, because salvation is the free gift of God, not something you earn or accomplish on your own. The words “save yourself and your hearers” seem to primarily refer to retaining the quality of life that God intends for you to have.