What’s Your Favorite Verse?
If I asked, what is your favorite verse of scripture? Some would immediately be able to quote the verse. I suspect that the verse that comes to mind has something to do with how this particular verse helped you in a tough season.
If I followed with, “Tell me what scriptures you think are the most important ones to remember,” I suspect that a few might use their favorite verse, some would argue that all scripture is important, and some might quote one of these:
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Or…
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
And certainly:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
But I would bet a paycheck that none of us would pick this verse:
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.”
While I don’t think this verse has the importance of the others listed above, there is a part of me that thinks we should quote this verse early and often in the spiritual formation process. It might help us to remember that both Jesus and Paul were quite clear that in this world we would have trouble and that there will come times of difficulty.
Paul said that this trouble would come in the last days. So, are we there? Well, as Paul instructed Timothy, it seems that Paul was teaching his protege that the last days were already here. And reading these words now will likely convince you that if it was true then, it is certainly true now.
Here are the indicators that define the last days:
For people will be lovers of self,
lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive,
disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable
slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
Maybe our world isn’t filled with many of these people, but there seem to be enough that our culture is clearly impacted. Paul’s instructions about how to deal with people like this was simple: avoid them.
As you read the rest of the chapter, you begin to understand that Paul is warning that people who think and act like the list above want to disrupt the church by sowing seeds that lead to disruption.
We have no need to fear because Paul reminds us that there is a way to nullify the impact of destructive people and forces. We are to remember, cling to, and study the scriptures we learned in childhood and continue to study all scripture because it…
“Is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Things are hard, just as Jesus and Paul said they would be. When things get hard, it doesn’t mean that you have failed or are weak. They are hard because the enemy does not want our faith to grow or the kingdom of God to spread. The good news is that the enemy can’t stop the wonderful and transformational work that God initiated when Jesus rose from the dead!
Father, thank you for your word. Help us to take in your word that it might transform our hearts and minds and lead us to actions that are pleasing in your sight. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
2 Timothy 3:1-5,10-17; John 3:16; Matthew 22:37-40, 28:19-20 ESV
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