Stay True
Opening Prayer
Take time to pray quietly for God to calm your spirit and prepare you to meet with him now.
Read 2 TIMOTHY 3:1-9
[1] But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. [2] People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, [4] treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- [5] having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. [6] They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, [7] always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. [8] Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth-men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. [9] But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
How would you characterize the people described here?Paul uses three finely balanced, but devastatingly penetrating, statements to describe them. They are pleasure-lovers, rather than God-lovers (4). When the focus of our desires turns to pleasure rather than God, all kinds of poisonous attitudes can be released. Love of self and money (2) takes precedence over love of the good (3). This perverted focus produces behavior that destroys relationships and ultimately destroys oneself.
They have a form of godliness but deny its power (5). False teachers were enthusiastic about ascetic practices and were always discussing religious trivia, but the power of God to change their lives was not evident. Wise Christians avoid them (5).
They were always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth (7). This is a description of the wealthy women whom false teachers influenced. These women always wanted to “learn,” but they never put the truth into practice. In a similar context, Paul says that what counts most is a new creation (Gal. 6:15).
Apply
Is your life being transformed by the truth? Are you more preoccupied with acquiring knowledge than living it?
Closing prayer
Lord, I want to know the truth and live by it. I want Your life in me to be evident to all.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.