Monday, September 12, 2011

Guarding Our Stewardships Series-One

During my reading the other day,  I came upon 1 Timothy 6:20 and 21.  I’ve probably read these verses a thousand times in my life, but they’ve never stood out until now.  That is what is so wonderful about the Word of God.  It is alive and, though never changing, ever pertinent to our season of life.  Here’s what it says in the KJV:

O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

21Which some professing have erred concerning the faith.

The New King James says basically the same, except instead of “oppositions of science falsely so called” it says “contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge” ,which is a bit easier to understand in my opinion.

What is it that Timothy was to “keep”?  That which is within all of us who call upon the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Jesus tells us plainly, while speaking to Pilot, for what purpose He came into the world.  This can be found in John 18:37 (NKJV): For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Jesus then goes on to say, Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. It is Truth that is entrusted to us.  Jesus came to testify to the truth, as His followers we are to do the same.  For all those who have been saved, Jesus has sent the Encourager, the Helper and Comforter, the Holy Spirit: If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  ( John 14:15-17)

Thus, Timothy was to keep or guard the Truth that was sent to him through Jesus Christ.  If Paul charged Timothy to guard the truth, as fellow believers we are to do the same.  Insert your name.  “O Marcia, keep that which is committed to thy trust….”  .  You get the point.

So then we come to the question of the ages, the question that people have been asking for thousands of years, including Pilot: Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”  (John 18:38)

 Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines truth  as “ Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be.” What an excellent definition! We know that Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6).  We also know that Jesus was with God from the beginning, that He is in fact God in the flesh:  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1) Since God is the source of all creation, He is the source of reality.  In short, Truth is God’s reality, which is the only reality.  We can try to :subjectify” whatever we want, but there still remains a reality that is absolute and to which all of creation must yield.

Truth has been under attack since the fall of man; since Satan first asked in the garden: “Has God indeed said….”.  Jesus came to testify to the truth.  Timothy was told to guard the truth.  We are to do the same.  We need to weed out those things which are of the world, which are contrary to Truth. 

We do not have to look hard to find ways in which the Truth is being distorted and replaced with a lie.  As a keeper of the home and mother to two children, I consider it my responsibility (and that of my husband’s of course) to stamp out the deceptions that may find its way into our home.  The purpose of this series is to look at ways we can guard the Truth, concerning our callings as mothers and wives.  I hope you’ll join me and contribute your thoughts. 
Have a blessed day, see you soon! Smile

1 comment:

Arie Uittenbogaard said...

Hear hear! I read a novel the other day in which a group of "voices" tell a story to a human listener. He asks, "Will it be the truth?" And they respond, "Truth is a person. Whether there will be a person in our story can't be promised. All we can do is tell you the story."

Anyway, I loved your story and I'm looking forward to reading more of it.
Thanks!
-Arie