Approved!

II Timothy 2:14-15 All of us have some kind of desire for approval and some will go to great lengths to win that approval. In the case of our relationship with God it is not a matter of winning approval - we have that standing through faith by the blood of Jesus. The words "Do your best..." are not talking about earning that approval, but because we have that standing, we strive for excellence so that we can accurately represent Him. Imagine the honor guard at Buckingham palace showing up in a sweat suit and barefoot. How is it that we can easily understand the proper clothing for the honor guard, but at the same time we let pass the most inappropriate dress, behaviors and speech in our own lives as we represent Jesus Christ - King of King and Lord of Lords. Maybe we have been used to seeing bad examples in those who have represented Christ. If that is true, then we need to from this point find out how to accurately represent Him and begin to make every effort to do so. Once we know the truth - then we have no more excuse for passing on bad examples to the ones who follow us. We need to learn how to correctly handle the Word of truth so that we can correctly live the Word of truth. It is always a good idea to find out what the Bible as a whole says about a subject and then to let Scripture say what it says.