Day 303: Jeremiah 25-26; 2 Timothy 3

Was Paul describing this moment in history 2000 years ago? "For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,  unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good,  traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power." (2 Timothy 3:2-5, CSB). He calls these the last days and tells us to avoid these people, they will easily lead us astray and they will certainly turn on us for standing on the truth. He makes an interesting observation about them: they are always learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (v.7). They have made certain that this will be their own demise, for they have made truth relative and deny any absolutes, even though their very physical existence depends on absolutes. It is scary that they have become more deceptive and more deceived, and that they have wormed their way into the church, even into leadership in some places. However, Paul reminds us that God has given us a safeguard from all of these, His very own Holy Spirit-inspired Word. This Word is truth, for it all centers on the Truth. Live by it, says Paul, it will teach, rebuke, correct and train and enable you and me to make a difference for good (vv.16-17), helping us thrive through this life and leading us securely to the next. So keep on keeping on in what you have learned and believed, by God's grace and with the Holy Spirit's help, and you will be blessed...forever!