2Timothy 3:16 - Being Rightly Equipped
Rebecca Lightfoot
Toward the end of 2Timothy,Paul calls young Timothy to a duty,that is actually a moral obligation when we realize what Paul is using as context.He prefaces this with 2Timothy3:16,”All Scripture(God’s Word)is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”.When Paul wraps this statement with the context of “every good work”,it becomes matter of preeminent significance,making All Scripture/All of God’s Word the foundation of anything that has “Absolute Good” at it’s core.Just above this in 2Timothy3:14-15,Paul tells Timothy to “continue in” what he has learned from others about “the holy Scriptures”,so that he will to be made “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”.In other words,Paul tells us that our lives have the potential to become a beacon/a source of light or inspiration for SALVATION through Christ Jesus when we discipline our mind/heart/life to continue in the Holy Scriptures...when we seek to have every part of our mind/heart/life shaped by the Holy Scriptures!Whether we are aware of it or not,our mind/heart/life is constantly being shaped by the influences around us and what we either intentionally or even passively invite into our mind/heart/live.Paul knows this from his own life experiences!This is why he now tells Timothy to “continue in what you have learned and become convinced of...the Holy Scriptures,which are able to make you wise for salvation(a mind/heart/life saved from the deceptions of sin) through Christ Jesus”.Paul encourages us to be deliberate & disciplined about what we allow to shape our mind/heart/life...,& by being intentional in our seeking to have every part of our mind/heart/life shaped by the Holy Scriptures.When this occurs in our mind/heart/life we are “prepared in season and out of season” to preach/earnestly advocate SALVATION (matters of Eternal Significance!) “with great patience and careful instruction...For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”2Timothy4:1-5.It is as if Paul is talking about the times we are living in,with people rejecting God’s Word/God’s Truths and turning away from TRUTH and turning to whatever they can find that suits their feelings about what they choose to believe as true and sadly trusting their lives to myths.We are living in the midst of these INFLUENCES,and these verses in 2Timothy are for our personal protection,as well as for the potential ETERNAL purpose our lives may have for those around us.Dear Lord Jesus,I have allowed my life to be influenced by so many things that are veering my mind/heart/life away from Your Truths.Forgive me for allowing this...and I pray for Your Spirit and Your Word to “continue” me in the Truths about You I have learned from Your Word and those that You have placed in my life to teach me about Your Truths.