October 5
Bible Reading: 2 Timothy 3
2 Timothy 3:1, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty…”
Though we are witnessing unprecedented troubles and uncertainty in these evil days, we ought not to be surprised. The Apostle Paul warned Timothy two millennia ago about what lay ahead. The “last days” began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17). On that day, the church was born and the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Christ was first declared. In spite of God’s provision of a Savior and a gospel of salvation by grace, mankind, generally speaking, has not responded and the spiritual climate in the world can only digress until the time of Jesus’ return.
The list of vices in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 is comparable to other such lists (Romans 1:28-32; Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Timothy 1:9-10). These vices speak to the attitudes and activities to which man inevitably gravitates apart from God’s intervention. In Adam, all have inherited a sin nature (Romans 5:12, 3:23). The “heart (of man) is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9). Men sin because they are born that way (Colossians 1:21; Ephesians 2:1-3). Only Jesus can work to forgive and change us (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
The list of vices begins and ends with references to misplaced love — “lovers of self, lovers of money…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:2, 4). The last days will be characterized by people’s misguided devotion to things other than God. The entire passage speaks to evil nature of a godless society and a godless society is by definition one that has no room for God. In place of love for God are love for self, money, and pleasure. Love for such things characterizes the day in which we live. The world is enamored with love for fame, fortune and fun. These pursuits govern its thinking and way of life. “Whatever makes you feel good” trumps all other concerns. Seemingly, every store has a lottery and lotteries make big money because people love money. There is even a magazine called “Self.” The problem is that we were not created to invest our lives in such things. We were created to know and love the One who created us. To set off on our own course, divorced from His purpose and plan, is a recipe for moral catastrophe. Those who do not love God are also those “not loving good” (2 Timothy 3:3). The remaining vices listed speak to the attitudes and actions that prevail in hearts and lives when a people have no love for God or good.
How is a person to navigate through the countless difficulties associated with such a day? What could possibly work to guide a person on a “God-ward” course in such a “god-less” environment? Such a person will undoubtedly face persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). What can help a person stay the course when the going gets tough?
Paul admonished Timothy to continue in what he had learned from childhood through the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:14-15). It is those sacred writings which “are able to make (a person) wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). The Bible is unlike any other book, for it is God’s word to us. It represents that which has been “breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). It is the inspired Word of God and is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). With respect to the way of righteousness, God’s word works to direct us in that path. It teaches us and outlines to us the pathway of right living (that which meets with God’s approval). It reproves us when we wander from the path, reminding us that we have strayed. It corrects us, instructing us in what we must do to get back onto the path. It trains us so that we might stay on the path and headed in the right direction. Living in a world headed on a broad path leading to destruction, the Bible alone can guide us along the narrow way.
The Bible is elsewhere said to be a light to our feet and a lamp to our path. In darkness, it is impossible to find one’s way apart from the provision of light from some external source. God’s word is that light to us in the midst of this present darkness. How are we to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, truth and falsehood? How are we to know if a thing is in fact pleasing unto God? What will work to help us to stay the course on the narrow path that leads to life when everyone else is headed in a different direction? God’s inspired and profitable Word alone can do that. We will “do well to pay attention” to it “as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart” (2 Peter 1:19). Living in the last days demands of us a careful devotion to the Word of God and adherence to that which it teaches. It has been said to represent to us Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. In these last days we need to pay careful instruction to them!
Dark and difficult days demand devotion to God’s Word, that we might be led by its light in the path of righteousness!
Thy Word is a lamp to my feet, O Lord,
And, trusting in Thee as my all,
Whatever of evil may cross my path,
I never, no, never can fall.
LookingtoJesus 