[APRIL 18] A Wrong Reading

Read: 1 Timothy 1:18-20

"Wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected,... have suffered shipwreck."

--1 Tim. 1:18-19

William Scoresby was a British seafaring explorer in the 19th century who responded to God's call to the ministry. An interest in the workings of navigational compasses stayed with him during his work as a clergyman. His research led to the discovery that all newly built iron ships had their own magnetic influence on compasses. This influence would change at sea for various reasons-leading crews to read the compass incorrectly. Often this led to disaster.

There is a striking parallel between the misread compass and false biblical teaching. In 1 Timothy 1, Paul warned against "fables and endless genealogies" (v.4)-man-made changes in the doctrines of God's Word. People who teach false doctrines "have suffered shipwreck," Paul concludes (v.19). Two people who opposed the Word of God by placing false teaching in its place, and who thus faced spiritual shipwreck, were Alexander and Hymenaeus (v.20).

Biblical truth is being questioned and in some cases even replaced in the church today. Our opinions must never replace the truth of God's Word. The Bible, not man's erroneous opinions about it, is the ultimate guide for our conscience in navigating life`s changing seas. Beware of wrong readings. --Dennis Fisher

God's words of pure, eternal truth

Shall yet unshaken stay,
When all that man has thought or planned,

Like chaff has passed away. --Anon.

REFLECT ON THIS:

The first point of wisdom is to know the truth, the second to discern what is false.

[FEBRUARY 28] The Country of Old Age

Read: Mark 7:1-13

 

"If anyone does not provide for his own,... [he] is worse than an unbeliever" 

--1 Timothy 5:8

In the book Another Country, author Mary Pipher met with people in their seventies, eighties, and nineties who were confronting many different life situations.

“I wanted... to understand the country of old age,” Pipher writes. “We are not organized in a way that makes aging easy.” The root problem, she observed, is that young and old have become segregated, to the detriment of both groups.

This social trend is not necessarily intentional. But many people do ignore and shirk their responsibilities for the elderly. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees found creative ways to avoid their family duties. In Mark 7:9-13, Jesus rebuked their common practice of dedicating their material possessions to God (declaring them as Corban) rather than using their assets to provide for their parents. Their tradition had violated the commandment to honor their father and their mother.

Our children, work, and church activities can pull us in many directions. But that doesn’t excuse us from honoring our aging parents by making provision for their needs, as much as we are able (1 Tim. 5:8). When the time comes for us to enter the country of old age, let’s hope we’ve set the right example for our own children to follow. --Dennis Fisher

Proving for our parents' needs
With loving words and selfless deeds
Is what the Lord expects of those
Who try to follow where He leads.

REFLECT ON THIS:
Honoring our parents is learned by example.