“i charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” [2 timothy 4:1-2]

paul drives this point home hard here in the first two verses of chapter four! preach the word! it is so easy to devalue the importance of gospel centered preaching of the word. true, solid, King Jesus – exalting, repentance driven preaching of the word of God is essential to our walk as believers!

in the preaching of the word of God, our hearts are drawn into the presence of God, and we are reminded of the power and work of Christ on the cross and our hearts are stirred to repentance as we are reproved, rebuked and exhorted after gazing on the person and work of Jesus and seeing the sin and wickedness in our own hearts.

this is grace. the preaching of the word of God that we receive on a weekly basis is a way for our hearts to be drawn into the presence of God with other believers as we dive into scripture as a body, examine our hearts in the light of the gospel and are called to repentance on a personal and corporate level.

be alert, the enemy desires nothing more than for a bunch of Christians to sit under good solid, Christ exalting teaching, to hear the word of God preached, and do nothing.

may your heart be moved as you take time today to sit and reflect on the preaching of the word that we heard last night, and may you be reminded of the hope that is yours in Christ as you call to mind the truths we heard as we were reproved, rebuked and exhorted as a body.  and, may that draw your heart nearer and nearer to King Jesus.

as your heart is reminded and you draw near to Jesus, take the time to be still and to rest in his presence. even now as you’re reading this, know that the King of kings is calling you into relationship, into his presence and into his word. dive in, spend time with Jesus and in the presence of our good, faithful and loving God. 

~ josiah bridges