Blessed Lord, take the hand of this precious reader and guide them to faithfulness and blessings; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Here is our text for today: 2 Timothy 3;14-4:5: 14 But don't let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers - 15 why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother's milk! There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another - showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. 17 Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. 1 I can't impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead. He is about to break into the open with his rule, 2 so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don't ever quit. Just keep it simple. 3 You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food - catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. 4 They'll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. 5 But you - keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God's servant.
Jesus said, "In my Father's house, there are many rooms," (John 14:2) and folks have used this to describe the different opinions believers may have about doctrine or issues, but today's text is Paul's warning about being led away by the things that catch our fancy rather than strengthen our faith. We who know (or should know) the Scriptures should know "the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (v.15), knowing that God's Word is given to us to help guide us on that way. We need to know that our every step can be accompanied by God if we invite God along. Ours is to stay the course and not to be misled. Notice what Paul urges us: "Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don't ever quite. Just keep it simple." We should not be discouraged when those with whom we are helping or teaching or guiding in the faith hear something that misleads them. Paul calls this "spiritual junk food." Their end result will be that they will turn away from the truth and begin to chase mirages." We should keep our eye on living a Christian life, accepting that there will be hard times along with good.
PRAYER: Loving God, help me to keep the Gospel alive in my life in such a way that it will encourage others to do the same. Give me opportunities to share You as God with someone today. Let me help bring about the transformation of the world through the disciples we are called to make. I pray this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
