Approved Workmen Are NOT Ashamed!

I am reminded of my years in Awana as I read through 2 Timothy 2. I can hear myself singing that song in the high, squeaky voice I am sure that I had. It was so easy back then to not be ashamed of anything. As I grew up I was confronted with the norm of trying to fit in. I must confess that too often became my norm as well. Ah to have the faith of a child still, to be ashamed of little, and to not be so content to just go through the motions. That is my goal, my prayer, my cry...

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions
(The Motions by Matthew West)

The second half of 2nd Timothy 2 is a great Godly "To Do" list.  We are to live unashamed and to properly handle the Word of God (vs 15).  Paul continually reminds Timothy to guard what is entrusted to him, to fan it into flame, and to unashamedly entrust and teach what he has learned and heard to others.  We must treat the Gospel in the same manner.  We must read it, memorize it (Psalm 119:11), and take it to the nations: to the ends of the earth.

Furthermore we are called to avoid quarreling and godless chatter.  How different would we look to our world if we did not gossip and lived at peace with everyone as best we could (Romans 12)?  This includes foolish arguments as well.  I so often find myself in arguments where the outcome is of little or no value.  I see this in the church as well.  We split over things like musical preferences.  We split over things we may not even know the answers to like predestination and the end times.  Does God look on favor as His church, His bride, His body is divided?  Think of the impact we could have on our world if His body, the church came together as one body under one head the Lord Jesus Christ!
²² Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³ Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵ Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
 
We must flee the evil desires of youth in the same way Joseph fled from Potiphar's wife.  He left his cloak and ran.  We can't wait around, we must RUN!  Our character must have a foundation of righteousness, faith, love, and peace.  As we teach we must not be self-righteous, but rather humble, gentle, and gracious.  Are we not sinners ourselves?  If we take the mindset of Paul when he said in 1 Timothy 1:15 that he was the worst of sinners that Christ came to save, perhaps there will be a different reception to the Gospel.  As C.S. Lewis reminds us, grace is the difference between Christianity and other religions.  May we be found living as Timothy was instructed; peaceful, unashamed, and studying and teaching the Gospel of Christ properly and with gentleness and grace.  What will our legacy be?  Righteousness, faith, love, and peace?  I pray that it is so in my life.
 
FIND US FAITHFUL

We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

CHORUS:
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

CHORUS:

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

Steve Green

FOR HIS GLORY AND HONOR!