Tuesday 1 May 2018

May 1: 2 Timothy 1:15-18

Key Verse: 2 Timothy 1:16
May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.

Devotion:
What do you do when someone you know gets into trouble? Do you try and distance yourself from them because they are on the wrong side of the law, or do you go out looking for them to try and support them? I know these are two totally different sides of any coin and it is not fair to ask when not done so in context, but it is the whole question of what do we do when someone falls from grace that we need to look at.

Paul did find out the hard way about how some people are vehemently against Christians and supporters of Christ; they may seem like super people on the outside, but inside they oppose everything we do. I cannot begin to understand why they should be the way they are, but we do have to face up to them in most societies. Sometimes it is the governments who are against Christians and we have to fight in secret but fight we must.

When we are in fear of our lives, our stance may change somewhat – just as Peter denied being a follow of Christ when he was confronted by angry people, we may well buckle and deny knowing Him at times. But Christ knows what is in our hearts and knows we need support at all times. When we feel threatened or are at our weakest, that is when we need the most support to bring us back in line with Christ’s ways..

So if Christ is willing to support those who deny Him or go against His ways and His law, then do you not think we should be supporting those who deny Him too? I now live in a deprived area so I can support people from the inside rather than trying to talk at them from the outside. This is the type of thing Christ did throughout His ministry and one we should be trying to echo if we can. We cannot all move from our homes and shack up in deprived areas otherwise those areas will become deprived of Christians too – the balance is never an easy one to start, but one which needs Christs leadership and direction.

Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to Christ when He tells you to go somewhere?

Or do you listen to the world and tell Christ where you are going?