‘Timothy! Be sure to be a good servant of Jesus!’ (1 Timothy 4:6-8)

Because the Apostle Paul cared about and loved the Word of God, the truth, in 1 Timothy 4:6-8 he gave Timothy the responsibility of proving himself to be a ‘good servant of Jesus’. This was not something to unique to Timothy, but is for all believers. As a good servant of Jesus, Timothy was to be very careful; to watch out for and guard his flock from the error of the false teachers, yet he was also to nourish himself and his flock on the ‘solid’ food of God’s Word. And rather than spend his days at the gym doing physical training, Timothy was to apply himself to spiritual training, exrecising discipline over his body, applying himself to growing in godliness and building up the flock by his own example. All of God’s people are called to grow in this way. It takes time and effort, but the eternal rewards are better than any gain from physical exercise alone.