Take Hold

Good Morning All,
We had a busy end of the week with Lynn and boys coming. Such a nice visit and I got lots of "grandma" time in, holding, burping, playing with Nate. On Sat. our son and family came also, so got to visit and see Ethan and Nolan's Valentine gifts. We exchanged cards and celebrated Valentines Day very nicely.
As I look at the portion of scripture we're going to study today, I think that it's not terribly complicated, but very important. We're still in 1 Tim. 6: 12b "Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."
What I want to look at is the two words at the beginning of this sentence: take hold. They seem to be simple words, but an imperative. It's telling us what to do, but it has a stronger emphasis than we first notice. This take hold means to: work to gain.
So, what does that mean you ask? It means that we are to study God's Word, understand it and then manifest (apply) it in our daily life. That seems simple, doesn't it. For many it is because they are dedicated to study God's Word diligently. For others, it means when they have time, when they think about it, just at church....you get the idea.
I don't normally do a book review, but I've been reading a really good book by Dr. Gary Smalley: I PROMISE. I've read other books he's written and liked them very well. He takes a biblical, no nonsense approach to life. Basically he teaches that God's Word tells us how to live and we need to "hide it in our hearts" and apply it.
He talks mostly about marriage, but it can easily be applied to any individual and should be a must read for everyone on the planet. He uses scripture to back up what he's teaching, plus how he's applied these principles in his own life. The best part for me: it makes common sense. I've already seen good things to apply to my own life and have started to implement them and seen results.
In closing, what do you do with what God teaches you? Do you read His Word diligently and apply it? Do you really study it, or just read a little and move on through your day, forgetting what you read?
We have one more part of this portion that I want to study next time, then I'll move on. I've enjoyed this study immensely and I hope you have too. Remember: hide God's Word in your heart so that you don't sin against Him (Ps. 119:11).

Hiding His Word,
Sandy