Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Let's, first of all, talk about who's talking right now. This is a letter written to Timothy by Paul. Paul and Timothy were tight. Paul actually considers Timothy like a spiritual son. When he's saying these things, he's saying them from a fatherly perspective. He's saying, I care for you enough to tell you what you need to hear. What Paul tells Timothy is to hold tightly to the faith that he had been taught through faith and love in Jesus.
A World of Many Voices
When we look at our world today, we got a lot of voices telling us to believe this, do that. It's not coming from a place of authority like the Word is. It's coming from a place of personal perspectives and opinions. If we're not careful, we'll start building a worldview on everybody else's thoughts and not on the Lord's.
I don't know if you're in this boat like me, but when I start listening to voices on TikTok or I'm scrolling on Instagram and I see people getting fiery about certain issues, I acknowledge that their life and their situation includes truth in their expressions of their feelings. But I also get really worried that I'm in the wrong. Am I listening to the right person? Am I associating with the right camp? I start hearing all of these arguments that start clouding my mind in a way that keeps me from thinking clearly.
I don't know if this is you, but I wrestle with this a lot. When I see this Scripture and I see how Paul is saying, "Hold on to a pattern shaped by faith and love," I have to contrast that to what we're talking about right now. The patterns that have been built for me over my life have been built on the opinions of others and the social constructs around me. All the time I'm looking at, what am I going to do to be accepted and received by the people around me? That's a dangerous place to be. We must come back to what the Word says.
The Way, the Truth, and the Life
Jesus makes a very bold statement. He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." You could hear a lot of people saying that without saying it. You got some very bold speakers, some very charismatic people online saying, "I know the truth. Listen to me." It sounds a lot like what Jesus was just claiming.
You've got Jesus on one hand, and you've got people on the other. Who's to say that Jesus isn't just another voice? If He said it, He's going to have to prove it, and we're going to have to believe it by faith. So how does Jesus prove that He is the way, the truth, and the life?
Look at one more thing He promised. He actually said, "After three days being in the grave, I'm going to rise again." The only way for these claims to be true is if He could pull that off, because everybody else that has made claims like this has died and has stayed dead. But here's the beautiful thing about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He died on the cross for our sins and didn't stay in the grave. The Bible says that He was raised to life, and there are so many eyewitnesses, people who saw Him, people who wrote their stories in Scripture to prove that He came back to life. Now He's seated at the right hand of God interceding for us. He's praying for you and me right now.
God’s Word will See You Through
In a world shaped by personal opinions, by things that are hot button topics just to get clicks, we have to come back to the standard of God's Word. Measure everybody else's opinions off of this and you'll be in good standing. I promise God's Word will always see you through. It needs to be your plumb line for truth.
Don't hold this loosely. Clutch it. Keep it close to you, and don't let it go.
