Tuesday 18 Sep 2018

September 18: 2 Timothy 4:1-5

Key Verse: 2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

Devotion:
We do have more of a duty than to just talk nicely about Jesus and a God who loves everyone; we have the duty to tell people the truth about things which will also mean telling them about the things they should not be doing. It is not an easy job to tell people when things are wrong, but without them knowing the difference between right and wrong, they do not have much hope of getting to understand Jesus and His ways.

Do you find it easier to believe someone who always says the same thing, or someone who tells you different things all the time? Yes, quite subjective I know, but by in large we do find it much easier to believe someone if they don’t keep changing the story they are telling! But blindly believing someone just because they repeat something time and time again is not right – we need to discern what is right and wrong by comparing it with something which is known to be the truth.

But where do we start to find out the ‘base’ truth? By continually comparing what people say with what others say, we can normally find common ground and agreements between the slightly different stories. You may notice the different letters/books in the bible do say things in different ways, but there is common ground where things agree and we can discern what is true from that. Just as lawyers try to find common witness statements to find out whether subjects are innocent or guilty, so should we be doing the same.

With this in mind, we then have to be careful about what we say to others. If we tell one person one thing and another something else, they may talk to each other and find out we are telling different stories. Should they be expected to believe us? What happens when someone says they don’t believe us? Should we give up and move on? Patience and persistence are two things I have grown to learn and exercise daily when talking about God to others. Take you time talking to others so you do not confuse them by talking at them; share the gospel carefully and diligently!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you give up telling others about God?

Do you always tell people the same thing – there is only one truth!