“Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.” – 2Timothy 2:15, AMP

A few days ago, God used someone to bless me with a $100 note. When I went to exchange it at a forex bureau, the lady took a bit of time to examine it and then put it under the blue light to check if it was genuine.

As usual, I asked if they encounter a lot of counterfeit notes.

“Too much; you have to be extremely careful otherwise it will be bad news for you,” she replied.

Of course many of us have painfully understood why it is important to learn how to differentiate counterfeit money from the genuine notes.

Our meditation today focuses on the word ‘approved,’ which in the original language denotes the process of determining whether something is genuine or not.

In the Old Testament, ‘approving’ a coin or precious metal involved ‘subjecting it to a test’ to see if it was indeed pure gold or silver.

The Greek word ‘dokimos’ refers to something or someone who has been tested and is allowed or formally sanctioned to do something because he has the capacity.

A payment or decision that is ‘approved’ is one that has been endorsed as legal or as authentic or accurate.

The opposite is adokimos – a ‘reprobate,’ ‘castaway’ or ‘reject’ – basically that which cannot stand or has not passed the test of authenticity.

In our meditation verse today, the apostle Paul admonishes Timothy to study and do his best to present himself to God as one who has been approved – a workman tested by trial who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the Word of truth.  

Another version says, “Do your best to win God’s approval.” That’s a strong statement indeed.

The apostle was advising Timothy to do his best to be a minister of the Gospel who does not cause shame, not just to himself but also to his Master, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The ‘approved’ minister is one who has learned to rightly and accurately handle the Word of truth; one who interprets it properly and knows its doctrine correctly.

It’s worth emphasizing that God holds every minister individually accountable, and not anyone else, in regard to learning sound doctrine.

Sadly, the Church dispensation today is rife with ministers who cause shame because of their failure to correctly and accurately handle the Word of truth.

Little wonder that there is a proliferation of all sorts of doctrines and denominations, with ministers who do shameful things under the cover of ‘preaching’ the Gospel of Christ.

However, the verse today indicates that being a minister approved by God requires hard work and effort.

“Make every effort to present yourself approved to God,” says another Bible version.

That directly implies that God will hold the Christian personally accountable for this task, as the minister who rightly divides the Word of truth is the one who is approved.

The implication here is that the one who does not correctly divide the Word of truth; the minister who causes shame is adokimos – a reject; reprobate; disapproved – however ‘successful’ or popular he might appear to be at the moment.

In 1 Corinthians 11:19, the Bible says; “For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.”

It’s worth emphasizing that God holds every minister individually accountable, and not anyone else, in regard to learning sound doctrine.

God will not blame it on your ‘spiritual father’ or ‘mentor’! It’s all up to you!

So, would God describe you as a person who has been approved by Him, like He did to Job in the Bible?

Have you been tested and tried and received His stamp of approval?

If you were a banknote, would you pass the legitimacy test after going under the blue light?

My God, help me to be Your approved minister; one who will never cause shame to Your Name, Amen!