14 day plan

Mothers of the Bible

Day 13 of 14

GNT

2 Timothy 3:14-17

14But as for you, continue in the truths that you were taught and firmly believe. You know who your teachers were, 15and you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, 17so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.

Reflection:  Timothy, one of the apostle Paul’s companions and co-workers, was a man of God and a leader of God’s people. In church history, we learn that Timothy went on to become the first century bishop of Ephesus. Timothy met Paul on his second missionary journey (Acts 16:1-4). Yet this reflection is not about Timothy. This reflection is about the influence of Timothy’s mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois.

Paul says in his second letter to Timothy, ‘I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ‘ (2 Timothy 1:5).  It was these women, whose ‘sincere faith’ Paul remembered, who taught Timothy what they knew about God. Paul reminds Timothy that he has known God’s word ‘from infancy’, which made him wise for salvation through Christ Jesus. His mother and grandmother took on the important task of teaching Timothy from the time he was a baby about God, and his salvation through Jesus. They taught him God’s word – and what an important task they accomplished!

Question: Were you taught God’s word from infancy, to make you wise for
salvation through Jesus? Do you have the opportunity now to teach a child the Bible, so that they can know God’s salvation?

Prayer:  Dear God, we praise you for the faithfulness of Timothy’s mother and grandmother. Thank you for the important work they undertook, training their son and grandson in your Holy Scriptures, so he could be ‘wise for salvation’ in Jesus. Lord, we pray that we would take every opportunity to teach the children you bring into our lives from the Bible – that we’d teach them how much you love them, and how they can know your salvation through Jesus. Amen.

We are reading the Bible with Karen
Mudge  until 19th May.

2 Timothy 3:1-17

The Last Days

1Remember that there will be difficult times in the last days. 2People will be selfish, greedy, boastful, and conceited; they will be insulting, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and irreligious; 3they will be unkind, merciless, slanderers, violent, and fierce; they will hate the good; 4they will be treacherous, reckless, and swollen with pride; they will love pleasure rather than God; 5they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power. Keep away from such people. 6Some of them go into people's houses and gain control over weak women who are burdened by the guilt of their sins and driven by all kinds of desires, 7women who are always trying to learn but who can never come to know the truth. 8 As Jannes and Jambres were opposed to Moses, so also these people are opposed to the truth—people whose minds do not function and who are failures in the faith. 9But they will not get very far, because everyone will see how stupid they are. That is just what happened to Jannes and Jambres.

Last Instructions

10But you have followed my teaching, my conduct, and my purpose in life; you have observed my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, 11 my persecutions, and my sufferings. You know all that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the terrible persecutions I endured! But the Lord rescued me from them all. 12Everyone who wants to live a godly life in union with Christ Jesus will be persecuted; 13and evil persons and impostors will keep on going from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves. 14But as for you, continue in the truths that you were taught and firmly believe. You know who your teachers were, 15and you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, 17so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.