Weekly Devotional 3-27-23 Remaining Faithful
After ministering in Ephesus for a period the apostle Paul determined to go into Macedonia. Knowing that false teachers would rise, distorting the message of the gospel, he left Timothy his son in the faith in Ephesus to stem the tide of their false teaching and to giver proper structure to the young church at Ephesus.
After a period (Perhaps a few years) Paul was inspired to write to two letters (1st and 2nd Timothy) to Timothy as encouragement
and support. Timothy was a young man and some who were older had a tendency of challenging him and his doctrine. Paul knew of these challenges and encouraged Timothy to not let others look down upon him do to his youth but to set an example for other believers “in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity (1st Timothy 4:12). Paul also told Timothy to be devoted to reading Scripture, exhorting, and teaching, and to not neglect the gift that he had been given. Paul also counseled Timothy to keep a close watch on himself. These instructions remain pertinent to believers today. We, too, are called to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. We are to fight the good fight of the faith.”
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul warned Timothy about the false teachers that he would encounter and tells him to continue in the things he had learned because he knew the character of those he learned them from, namely Paul himself and his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 3:14–15). The truths Timothy was taught from infancy—truths about sin and his need of a Savior—were able to make him “wise unto salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15). As ministers (teachers) of the word we are to prepare our ourselves to distinguish truth from error so that we might prepare others for the same truth. As believers, we are to stand firm in the truth we have learned, not being surprised or swayed by opposition and false teachers.
Paul also told Timothy, “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). This advice is crucial for all Christians. “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” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Paul counseled Timothy, his “dear son” (2 Timothy 1:2), from a heart of love, wanting Timothy to stand firm in his own faith and to lead the other believers well.
Timothy certainly seems to have been faithful; should not we follow his example?
Steve
Stevelampman.com
Stevelampman@comcast.com