Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

II Tim, 2:15, ESV

One of the things I like the most about God is how fair He is. By that I mean that He has the same set of rules for everyone, yet He does not have unreasonable expectations for us. Take the passage above: God reveals that He expects us all to put the work necessary into handling His Word in the right way. Having said that, He realizes far better than do we what our limitations are. In other words, not all of us will grasp every nuance about the Bible as readily as some, but He does want us to do our best. Well, what exactly do we mean by that? Maybe a practical example will help.

I know a lot of people who can work on their own vehicles. They can change their oil, replace the battery, make sure that their tires have the proper air, and so on. Then there are people who perform more complicated tasks such as replacing a starter or water pump, or even installing a head gasket. Then there are the guys on a whole different level. These are the ones who seem to be able to do anything. It has something to do with their training and experience, but they also just have that mechanical aptitude that allows them to diagnose problems that others just can't see. It's not that they are smarter than everybody else in every area of knowledge, but when it comes to all things mechanical, they are indeed at the genius level.

So, if Heaven were to be based on repairing a leaking radiator hose, it would at first appear that some of us would be in trouble. But, if the standard were to be that we do our best to fix that leak, we would immediately be placed on the same level because my best would be better than some but inferior to most others. This being the case, I could then set out to read the repair manuals I was capable of understanding, talk to others with more experience, watch YouTube videos or whatever else I could think of to do my best. Then, even if it took me longer and I didn't get it just right, I would still be meeting the standard of doing my best. A car genius, on the other hand, might breeze through the repair and complete the repair perfectly, yet if Heaven were to be on the line, he would still do all that was in his power to make sure he had done it right. Still another, say a 98 year old lady with poor eyesight, would not be expected to do as well, but she would still be expected to give her best effort. 

The point is that while the desired outcome of getting the leak fixed is the same, it would be unreasonable to think that all would be as effective and as quick in doing so. So if the standard is to do our best, then we are all placed on an equal footing. This, I believe, is the way to look at the passage above.

Not everyone starts out on the same level with the same opportunity. A young mother with two small children to take care of will obviously have more challenges and obstacles to correctly handing God's Word than would a paid Bible professor at a religious institution. At first this may seem to give the professor an unfair advantage of correctly handling the truths contained within Scripture, but when you combine the command with the instruction to do our best, then we once again have the same chance to please God in fulfilling the intent of His commandments.

To sum it up, we all have exactly the same responsibility to do our best to correctly handle the Bible. While we all have different aptitudes, experience levels, and situations in life, we can still all do our best. Those who do not do their best, regardless of how well they may appear to be doing in comparison to others, will in the end be looked upon as lazy workers who should be ashamed of themselves. But, those who do their best with the tools they have available will do well. 

That being the case, the only question that remains to be answered is this: Are you doing your best?