2 Timothy chapter 3: verses 1-17 (NIV)
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Well, this is a first for the blog. Normally just one or two verses jump out at me to ponder on in the morning, but today the whole of the New Testament reading grabbed my attention because it is just so descriptive of the times we are living in now, and how we as Christians should respond. Nicky Gumbel in his own thoughts on today’s New Testament passage in “The Bible in One Year” says that God’s word is ‘eternal’. In spite of all the attacks on the Bible it has survived. He quotes from the message version of the Bible with regard to today’s portion in the Psalms; ‘What you say goes, God, and stays, as permanent as the heavens. Your truth never goes out of fashion; it’s as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up. Your Word and truth are dependable as ever’ (Psalm 119 vv.89–90, MSG). I love the quote about the Bible being as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up. You can’t get any fresher than that!
In all seriousness, when we look at many people’s attitude towards life, and towards God, they perfectly fit the description of those people that Paul is describing to Timothy. In contrast, whilst in western society we are not yet at the stage of wide-spread persecution, the teaching of the Bible is being openly scorned by those who claim to want freedom for all to live their lives as they choose. Yet what they actually mean is that they only want people to agree with them and their secular, do as you please beliefs, and if you don’t then you are the ones who should be made to change your mind, by law if necessary. Paul cautions that all those who seek to live a godly life will be persecuted, but that we as followers of Christ should continue doing so regardless, because the years have proven to those of us who have been on the Christian Road for a while, that the Word of God is completely reliable and therefore the importance of being able to use it properly is more relevant than ever.
Dear Lord,
Thank You for the truth and reliability of the teachings found in the scriptures. Help me to rely on them more and more in these times of uncertainty. I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.