Scripture Reference: 2 Timothy 3:1-17
Continue in God’s Word
Please read 2 Timothy 3:13-17 for background to this section.
The only way to defeat Satan’s lies is with God’s truth. “Thus says the Lord!” is the final answer to every question. Evil men and deceivers are going to get worse and worse. They will deceive more and more. Why? Because they are being deceived by Satan! In these last days, there will be more deception and ever-increasing imitation; and the only way a believer will be able to tell the true from the false is by knowing the Word of God.
Timothy had been taught the Word of God from the time he was a child. Some people are prone to say, “Well, I needed the Bible when I was younger; but I can do without it now that I’m older.” How terribly wrong they are! Adults need the guidance of the Word far more than children do because adults face more temptations and make more decisions. Timothy’s grandmother and mother had faithfully taught him the Old Testament Scriptures. The word “whom” in verse 14 is plural, referring to both these women (see 2 Timothy 1:5). Timothy was to continue in what he had been taught. We never outgrow the Word of God.
This is a good place to admonish Christian parents to teach their children the Bible, starting at a very early age. A good place to start would be a reputable picture Bible. What a joy it can be to watch your children learn while asking questions and then to watch them, as they become more confident in reading, little by little, graduate to Bibles of their own. As soon as your child is born, surround him or her with the Word of God and prayer. You will gradually lose this opportunity if you didn’t start young, after he or she grows up.
In this paragraph, Paul made some important statements about the Scriptures:
They are the Holy Scriptures (verse 15a). “The sacred letters” is a literal translation. The suggestion is that young Timothy learned his Hebrew alphabet by spelling his way through the Old Testament Scriptures. The word for “holy” means “consecrated for sacred use.” The Bible is different from every other book, even books about the Bible, because it has been set apart by God for special sacred uses. We must treat the Bible as the special book it is. You wouldn’t toss a rare treasure around aimlessly, or carelessly leave it anywhere. The Bible is such a treasure and yet too often we forget just how priceless it is.
The way we treat the Bible shows others how much or how little we respect it. It’s not just the pages surrounded with a fancy cover either, that I’m talking about. It’s what’s inside of it. It’s not so much the letters, sentences, and paragraphs that make it a treasure, but rather the spirit that those letters, sentences, and paragraphs convey. Paul gives us the right attitude toward the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Yes, today we can carry the Bible in book form, on an app in a phone, or even a tablet or laptop computer, but do we reverence it, what it says, like the treasure it is?
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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