A guy I talked with about Christ many times over a period of ten years, said to me, "Why do you keep going and going to Bible studies, year after year?"

"Why do you ask? I'm just curious," I said.

"Well, you've been studying the Bible all these years and people have been studying it forever and ever. I mean why keep studying it over and over?"

I know this is lame, but I told him, "Wayne, it's a huge book. There's a lot to study." This was really a flubbed opportunity to share all the way around, but I did manage to tell him that most times when I study even the same passages I've studied before that I often learn something new. He just stared at me. There's a lot more that I could have said, if I'd had my wits about me. It goes like that sometimes.

The writer of Ephesians 1:13 tells us, "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise," and James tells us in verse 1:18 of his letter to the Hebrews; "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures."

Okay, the Word of truth. What are we to do with it? God showed us when He spoke to Joshua as he was about to cross over the Jordan river and enter into the land promised to the Hebrews. "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it."

Further, Paul in his second letter to Timothy, tells his son in the Lord to; "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)
So the Bible tells us that by His will, God brought us forth by the Word of truth, and that after we heard it we trusted in Jesus for our salvation. Now, we are to ponder it day and night, rightly dividing it. Why are we required to "rightly divide" the Word of God? What does rightly divide mean here, exactly?

"Orthotomounta," is the word used in the Greek text for "rightly dividing" and if you look it up in a Strong's or a Young's concordance you tend to grasp the meaning of the word as telling us to "dissect" the word.

Let's try that with 2 Timothy 2:15. What is the verse saying?

a) First it's telling us to seek out the approval of God, not man.
b) We're supposed to be very diligent in our pursuit of His approval.
c) While we're being diligent, we're not to do anything that might bring shame on us.
d) To get God's approval, and to stay away from shameful things, we must rightly divide the Word of truth.
e) The total requirement to rightly divide the "Word of truth," is based on the fact that it is the Word of God Himself.

One little verse translates into a lot of meaningful content. That, I guess could have been what I showed Wayne, had I had my wits about me. It goes like that sometimes.