Quote for the Day
“…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…”
Today's Prayer
This week pray for those traveling that they will see the power of God’s scripture and His wisdom as they make decisions in their daily life. Ask God to give insight and wisdom to those on the road as they are away from family.
2nd Timothy 3:1-9
2nd Timothy 3:1-9 (NIV)1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.
Message
In these few verses, Paul sharply contrasts the focus of those who love God and those who do not. While the passage talks of “the last days”, the message is clearly for us today. We need to be on the alert and aware of what people are teaching us to see the window into their soul. If the message of someone’s teaching is self-centered and can be summarized as, “…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…”, Scripture has a very decisive and important command for us: “Have nothing to do with them.” Not a lot of room for interpretation. God is a very jealous God, and desires our focus to be on Him alone.As you evaluate what teachers and those of influence are saying, if it does not focus on God, or if it is in any way a focus on self-pleasure, there is only one answer: Have nothing to do with them.Who are you listening to this week? Take a strong look at those you respect and trust, and put them to the test of Scripture.
