Leviticus 1:6 And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.

Thus begins the process of preparing the sacrifice to the Lord. Beginning always at the head as instructed and cutting a straight way down to the hips, so that all the inward parts should be exposed and dealt with according to the instructions given.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

We are to be a living sacrifice, where the Word of God, cuts straight to expose our inward parts, to see them in truth, and then to deal with it in accordance with His instructions.

The workman that needs not be ashamed is the one who has allowed the Word to expose the inner man and then dealt with him according to instructions. Too often we take this as being a onetime sacrifice and we care not to come to the alter again.

1 Corinthians 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

As often as I come to follow these instructions, I find less and less to correct but come I do and not just for correction. I also come for direction.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

He will do this for us if we come to His Word for both correction and direction.

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:14-16 (DARBY) Of these things put in remembrance, testifying earnestly before the Lord not to have disputes of words, profitable for nothing, to the subversion of the hearers. Strive diligently to present thyself approved to God, a workman that has not to be ashamed, cutting in a straight line the word of truth. But profane, vain babblings shun, for they will advance to greater impiety,

I bring the Darby translation into play here with one specific purpose and that is related to the dividing spoken of in the KJV and other translations. Some translations indicate a correct teaching of the meaning of the truth. I agree, but if we are to be students first and teachers secondly, then let us, like Darby, delve a little deeper in the cutting of straight lines.

STRONGS NT 3718:

(cutting straight);

1. to cut straight: to cut straight ways, i. e. to proceed by straight paths, hold a straight course, equivalent to to do right , Proverbs 3:6; Proverbs 11:5.
2. dropping the idea of cutting, to make straight and smooth; Vulg.rectetracto, to handle aright: i. e. to teach the truth correctly and directly, 2 Timothy 2:15;  Eustathius, opuscc., p. 115, 41. (Not found elsewhere (except in ecclesiastical writings (Winer’s Grammar, 26); e. g. constt. apost. 7, 31; cf. Suicer ii. 508f). Cf. to cut new veins in mining; dropping the notion of cutting, to make something new, introduce new things, make innovations or changes, etc.)

Many translations drop the issue of cutting, but I would like to explore deeper the issue of the cut. If we take into account Paul’s deep understanding of the Old Testament, this cutting can easily be traced back to the dividing of the sacrifices by the priests.