NEGLECT!

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

NEGLECT!

1 Tim 4:14-15

14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

Heb 2:3

3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;

           Our English word “neglect” is found only four times in the Authorized Version. The first two times, in Matthew 18, it clearly means “to disobey” but here, in First Timothy and Hebrews, it means “to be careless of.”

           As children, we were often reminded not to be careless of our things. We are told not to leave our bicycles out in the rain because it will cause rust and decay. Careless use of anything of value was sternly discouraged. Some of those valuable things were expensive to replace while others were simply irreplaceable.

           The gift of ministry certainly should not be neglected. Reading, meditation, prayer, and service appear to be easy tasks but anyone engaged in those things will quickly tell you they are not easy. They may not take a toll on the body but the mind and the spirit may be spent by exertion.

           The gift of salvation can be carelessly neglected and little valued. Safely secured by the guarantee of God, salvation can’t be lost but it can be rendered useless due to careless living.

2 Peter 1:8-9

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

Dear Lord, let me neglect neither ministry nor my salvation which was purchased by Thy own blood. AMEN