Thoughts for the Day

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

This passage of scripture might be written directly to us today? The writer of 2 Timothy (likely to have been St Paul though there has been discussion about this over the years), has succinctly nailed down our age in his letter. The question is, do we have itching ears? Or more to the point does our generation have itching ears? The answer undoubtedly is "yes"! We see how people will clamour for the latest craze; follow the latest guru; and dismiss everything that is deemed to be out of date. Indeed Truth is seen as coming from those who garner thousands of hits to their platforms on social media even when they may spout nonsense.

At my first clergy conference in the 1980's the Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Rev John Yates said this:

• “When we are up to our armpits in alligators, it is difficult to remember that we are there to clear out the swamp. Or, when we are up to our necks in parish work, let us not forget that this is not our main job.”

Now Bishop John was talking to his clergy, but but this wonderful quotation applies to each one of us. Our task is to revitalise the world by spreading the word of God. Sometimes that will be through the way we show love for others; sometimes it will be through sharing our faith; and sometimes it will be through standing up for what we know is right. To do all that means we need to stay close to God and to encourage one another!

Father God,
as we immerse ourselves in the world,
may we not get so involved in the unimportant issues
that come to our attention through the media each day,
that we forget what is really important -
that You sent Your Son, Jesus,
to rescue us from our sin
and reunite us to Yourself.
May we measure all else against this.
Amen.