Evening Prayer 1-31-11

Reading:

2 Timothy 3:1-17

In today's reading, St. Paul is continuing to instruct Timothy in the way of the Christian life.  St. Paul speaks of how the world appears to be and will become.  People are going to be self absorbed, lovers of self, money, power mongers, immoral and all other horrible things.  They live their lives as if God does not matter.  Even worst is that St. Paul states these people appear to have godliness.  They may for a moment appear to have things in order, but this is not the case at all.  We are to flee from those that appear to have godliness while living like this.  These are fakes and impostors of the faith, because they deny that God can change them because they do not believe in His power to do so.

So instead of being changed by the Holy Spirit, they run away from God and His Word.  They may even appear to prosper for some time, but St. Paul teaches that their folly will be shown.  Because at the end of their life, they have to give an accounting before God for what they have done in this life.  These things are not going to bring them into a relationship with God.  Despite them trying to deny God and His power one day they will have to stand face to face with Him and what will they say? 

But for those whom the Holy Spirit calls, He opens their minds to see the Scriptures for what they are, the inspired, inerrant Word of God.  We are to stay true to their teachings and not turn to new and strange doctrines.  Because it is here in the Scriptures that we come to see Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation.  We hear the Gospel that we are saved by His precious life, death and resurrection and that this is what makes us wise to salvation because we trust in Him alone.  These Scriptures when we study them and meditate on them teach us, reprove us, correct us, and train us in righteousness so that we may be competent, equipped for every good work.  The Scriptures show us and point us constantly to the Savior, Jesus Christ and keep us grounded in Him.