Take heed to thyself, and to thy teaching. Timothy was appointed to his evangelistic work by elders' hands. He had a solemn duty to perform admirably in his preaching work. The apostle clearly thought it was vital to make a dedicated and supreme effort to learn the wisdom of God as revealed in the inspired writings. Learning is, for the most part, an effort of slow diligence and steady perseverance, to which the mind is dragged by necessity or resolution.
Much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Noble thoughts and good instruction do not fly through the air and lodge mysteriously in the mind. In every case, where the details are recorded, people in the first century were told what to do by words or by the signs and symbols of ideas and never by an unconscious process of assimilation. They were always fully aware that they were being given explicit directions that could be obeyed or disobeyed. They were told what to do but not overwhelmed and had the option of submitting or rebelling. Evil thoughts, in like manner, do not show up in the mind without rhyme or reason.