1 Timothy 4:12 Be… an example of the believer.
Read 1 Timothy 4:11 – 16
There are many reasons why I loved my father. For one, he was real. Whether he was arguing with you or advising you (he never hesitated to tell you how you could live your life better) or wiping away a small boy’s tears with the heel of a hand hardened by a half century of manual work, you knew he was thoroughly and transparently sincere. My father had a limited tolerance for superficial joking and jesting. He would often remind us that for “every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matt. 12:36). Not a popular concept nowadays, but certainly biblical! Oh, he could laugh as heartily as the next person, but he wanted you to know that when he said a thing he meant it. When he promised something, whether it was a bicycle or a spanking, he kept his word. It was impossible for him to hide his feelings. When he was glad he showed it and when he was displeased you knew it—immediately. Such a personality can produce choppy domestic weather, but the squalls pass much sooner than when dealing with a chronic sulker.
Pop was real in his prayers. I sometimes grew weary at their length but there was never any question that he meant what he prayed! And I shall never forget the mornings when I would awake at 5:30 and see my father kneeling beside the gas stove that served both to prepare food and to heat our little rented room. “God, bless my boy today!” he would pray. “Keep him from sin and lead him in the way everlasting.” You never forget prayers like that!
Small thought here. Let me ask you, dear friend: Are you an example of the believer? Do you mean what you say and mean what you pray? This devotional was written by Dr. Robert A. Cook. You can subscribe to his free email articles at Walk With The King Today and listen to his Spirit-filled 15-minute messages. Used with written permission.
