1Timothy 4:15 - Put Your Whole Self In. All Up In It.

”These [things] be attending to, be constantly in them, in order that the progress of you manifest may be to all.”

-The glory of God.  His breathtaking goodness and greatness, on display for all to see.  Not only in the heavens and in all the wondrous design and artistry of creation, but also in my life.  A wonderful impossible vested and burdened with divine glorious purpose.  A clay pot, to be sure, but one filled with marvelous treasure (2Corinthians 4.6-7)!  Yes, the very life of Jesus manifested in and through us, spilling out into the brokenness of the world around us.  The same God Who said, “Let there be light!” filling our hearts and lives with His light and power and love in such a way that the lost are found and the broken are healed and the Body is built up.  Glimpses of glory.  This is why Jesus lived - and died.  This is why He sent the Helper to be with us forever, and why He gave Timothy and each one of us a gift, some measure of giftedness.  Proper and healthy use and cultivation of God’s gifts will do just that, they will result in the growth of the body of Christ and in showing off the great goodness of almighty God and His divine eternal purpose of drawing many rebels to Himself, of transforming broken and dying me-first souls into life-giving body-building glimpses of glory.  Participation in - and progress towards - this heavenly vision is paramount.  In the words of CS Lewis, further up and further in.  And Paul says it should be obvious to all around, plain as the nose on our face.

-To this end, Timothy - and each one of us who follows Jesus - must be not neglectful but attentive.  It is a word play in the Greek (the former is simply the negative of the latter)(so, not care-less, but care-full, or better, not unattentive but attentive, not unfocused but focused).  Constantly paying close attention!  He (we) must direct his (our) focus and attention towards the greater good of the body and how God specifically wants he (me) to help it grow.  All in.  All the way in.  Absorbed in and by them, yes.  It is like the Borg in Star Trek Next Generation.  We will assimilate you.  We will add your biological distinctiveness to our own.  Resistance is futile.  But in fact, resistance - and neglect - are all too possible, are they not?  Too often we fail to add our biological and spiritual distinctiveness, our giftedness, to the collective, to the family of God, do we not?  Paul says, Timothy you must be IN this, get totally caught up in this.  All up in it.  You put your whole self in.  We along with Timothy must get caught up in the cultivation of our gift, perfecting our spiritual craft as it were, for the good of the family and the glory of God, God’s breathtaking goodness increasingly on display in our lives for all to see (and celebrate).  A redeemed lump of clay being reformed and refined and beautified by the Master Potter Himself as we put our whole selves in, our gift (which He gave us!) and all that we are at His disposal for His glory.  All in.

-This is what we were truly made for.  Anticipate the joy, the indescribable unspeakable joy!  The joy of really crushing it, of a race well run, the joy of doing something so very well, and of hearing the Father say, “Well done!”  The joy which comes from getting better and better at something, improving and excelling in some manner of service, of being able to exclaim, “I was made for this!” and all the while knowing that lives are forever better because of it!  Yessssss!  That’s what I’m talking about!  That’s what Paul’s talking about... :)