God’s Word for You
2 Timothy 2:7 Think it over
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, June 17, 2026
7 Think over what I am saying, for the Lord will give you understanding in all things.
These words, given to Timothy by the Apostle and meant for all preachers, are also for all Christians; everyone who reads the Scriptures can benefit from them. Everyone who studies the Scriptures gains insight. Those who cherish the Scriptures, who turn to them again and again in troubled days, receive a priceless treasure from God.
“The statement of Isaiah (28:19) is true: ‘Trouble gives understanding’; likewise, hunger is the best condiment. For those who are afflicted have a better understanding of the Holy Scriptures; the smug and prosperous read them as if they were some poem written by Ovid.”
Hunger as “the best condiment” is a reminder that the soul that is truly in need feels that need in every part of life, just as pepper sprinkled on food is taken in with every bite.
The Christian is guided to think over Paul’s words, and all of the rest of the Holy Scriptures. For Paul writes with great wisdom, and Peter says that “Paul writes the same way in all his letters…. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:16,18).
Therefore we are encouraged to “think over” what Paul and the other writers of the Bible have said. Just as it is prudent, when you sit down to dine with a ruler, to note well what is before you (Proverbs 23:1), when you sit down to dine at the banquet of the Scriptures, take each and every morsel presented as the most precious delicacy, the best possible nourishment for your soul. “In every matter be thoughtful.” Jesus used the same word Paul does here when he said about the prophecy in Daniel, “Let the reader understand!” (νοείτω, Matthew 24:15). But how are we to understand? The four most basic rules of interpreting the Bible are these:
1, The text has a single simple sense. We do not try to import our own opinions, reason, or feelings into the text. We do not overlay modern science or our current culture on top of the text. We want to read the Bible, the text of the Bible, and take it as it is.
2, The Scriptures interpret the Scriptures. Where the Bible introduces a word-picture or a metaphor, such as “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35) then the Bible will also explain what this means. Jesus explains what he means by “I am the bread of life” by saying, “Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40), and again, “he who believes has everlasting life’’ (John 6:47). Therefore, “I am the bread of life” is a picture of faith in Christ: believing in Jesus is receiving the gift of God that is life and forgiveness, just as the manna in the desert was the bread that sustained Israel for the forty years of wandering.
3, Difficult passages, where possible, should be explained in the light of easier passages. We need to look at passages, of course, that are speaking about the same thing, and then together we will gain insight into what a more challenging passage is saying. Sometimes this is as simple as a passage giving us a detail that is missing. For example, how many people were on Noah’s ark? The text of Genesis does not give a number, saying only that “Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark” (Genesis 7:13). But how many wives did each son have? We need to look to Peter in the New Testament to assure us that there were eight people in all (1 Peter 3:20) who were saved, and that therefore each son had only one wife. Other times, a passage may be much more difficult, or may seem to contradict another passage. For example, 2 Samuel 14:27 says that David’s son Absalom had three sons and a daughter, but 2 Samuel 18:18 says that Absalom set up a pillar for himself, saying, “I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.” But if we pay attention to the dates of these statements, we see that when he was younger (in his late teens), Absalom fathered three sons, but by the time Absalom was in his mid-twenties, all three had died as children. Perhaps the infant mortality rate was high in those days.
4, The fourth rule of interpretation is called “the analogy of faith.” In order to find a doctrine in the Bible, we examine all of the passages that speak about the same thing. We compare them in the light of one another, and then, as the sum of them all, state the doctrinal position. For example, there is no single passage that simply and clearly explains the Holy Trinity, but there are many passages that apply. God is one God only (Deuteronomy 6:4), but the Father is God (John 6:27), and the Son is God (Acts 9:20), and the Holy Spirit is also God (Acts 5:3). And so we confess, “There are not three gods but one God”
Dr. Luther gave his good friend (and barber) this advice about studying the Bible: “If I have had time and opportunity to go through the Lord’s Prayer, I do the same with the Ten Commandments. I take one part after another and free myself as much as possible from distractions in order to pray. I divide each commandment into four parts, thereby fashioning a garland of four strands. That is, I think of each commandment as, first, instruction, which is really what it is intended to be, and consider what the Lord God demands of me so earnestly. Second, I turn it into a thanksgiving; third, a confession; and fourth, a prayer.”
Begin with faith (Psalm 111:10), and permit God to reign over his own word. “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his” (Job 12:13). Avoid the mistake of trying to force our human reason, human wisdom, or human intelligence into your understanding, as if they are mightier than the wisdom of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:19), and learn directly from the Lord our God. This will show your wisdom and understanding to people all around, and you will grow in your faith and in your understanding of what God has revealed to us.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.