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7 For [gar] yourselves [autos] know [eido] how [pos] ye ought [dei] to follow [mimeomai] us: [hemas] for [hoti] we behaved [atakteo] not [ou] ourselves disorderly [atakteo] among [en] you; [humin]KJV-Interlinear
7 For
you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act
in an undisciplined manner among you, NASB
Remember that not too
long ago we studied the basic intuitions that people have.Everyone, knows the
difference between what is right and what is wrong, between what they should be
doing and what they are doing in life.
So even if you have no
contact with moral instruction, God gave you a sense of basic morality.The only problem is that most folks simply
disregard it.This does not mean that
you are going to go out and party all night, or do bad things.
But what it does mean,
is that you have no excuse in life, when you finally take your place in front
of Christ, and He leans forward toward you and states outright, Don t you dare
tell me that you did not know!
And Paul states it
clear here, You know! The word, eido, means to understand, to have already considered, to perceive, to know.
And what is it that you
know?
That God intends for
you to follow, to pursue a spiritual life.A spiritual life that He has laid out in front of you,
and not one of your own choosing.
Follow, mimeomai, means to imitate as by example, to chase after
with enthusiasm the pattern.Paul is the
example for you. Christ was the example for Paul. Therefore, your example is
Christ.And Christ is the pattern of
life, which we are all to follow.
And what is that
pattern?To wear a
white sheet?To walk everywhere
we go?To be polite
and talk humbly to everyone?
No.At the Second Advent, Christ will not be wearing
a white sheet, nor will He be polite to an evil world.
Christ is the
almighty.The pattern He has given to us
is Bible doctrine.That includes
responsibility, obedience, accountability, patriotism, respect and many more
things. You are to follow His pattern no
matter what your occupation is in life.
If in the military,
then your obligation is to defeat the enemies of truth.If a mother of infants, then your obligation
is to raise them and change the diapers with love and so forth. If a builder of
rockets, then you have an obligation to build them right and better.
Plug in your occupation,
and that means you are to do your work as unto the Lord.
But the single most
important responsibility that you have in life, is to
learn bible doctrine, to come to an understanding of what the scriptures teach,
to use them in your daily life, to grow and mature as an adult should.
You are not to live a
disorderly life.
The word for disorderly
in this verse is not the same as in the last verse.Here our word is, atakteo,
which means confusion, unarranged, insubordinate, unruly.This is the life of a rebellious person, one
who rejects truth, one who invents his own truth, one who finds ways to
compromise or finds exceptions to truth, one who believes that he has a better
way, than that which God has presented.
Paul did not live a
disobedient, rebellious life, but kept with that which God teaches.Paul studied everyday.Something that you should
do.Paul taught everyday.Something that you should do.And who is your principle student?Look in that mirror and say, Hello,
student.Be quiet and learn.
Until you learn, until
you teach yourself, until you settle down and listen to the instruction of
Bible doctrine, and do the things that you should do in order to learn, you won t
amount to much of anything in life.
You cannot read the
bible in a weekend, or a month, or a year and learn much.You have to study.That means listening,
taking notes, memorizing verses, keeping a notebook Oooo,
that sound like work.
But God has given you
much a saved life, an eternal life, and place in heaven, and vast set of
rewards in heaven and so forth.He
expects much from you.And what is it
that He expects from you?That you will grow
up.
That requires
self-discipline on your part. That requires a desire to want to learn. That
requires some self-motivation on your part. That requires a
toughness and a determination to not give up, no matter what.
For God will test you,
sooner or later, to see if your commitment is real or fake.
Anyone can study when
times are good, but the real separation of the men from the boys, the women from
the girls, comes when life falls apart.And then your commitment to your daily, repeat, daily, studies will
either rise up to the occasion, or fade into what it really is nothing.
Better to make that commitment
now while you can, because making the commitment when times are tough, is much
more difficult.