You must continue

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, - 2 Timothy 3v14

This is a tough sounding passage with things like, ‘evil men and seducers will increase,’ and, ‘all those who desire to live godly will suffer persecution.’ These are not very encouraging words for the servant of God. In response we are told that we are not to quarrel but to be gentle to all.’ One would think that the response to this kind of evil would be to grab a sword (or gun), stock up the provisions, and be ready to fight till they pry the gun from our cold hard fingers instead of ‘be gentle to all.’

What is God’s advice in the midst of all this seeming bad news in the previous verses? ‘You must continue on…’ Let me parrowphrase this if I might. ‘It is just going to get worse and worse Timothy, but you can’t respond in the flesh. Don’t argue, be gentle, and realise that persecution is going to happen if you want to live a godly life. So just keep on keeping on with what you are doing. Find your strength and assurance in the scriptures you have known since you were little. Stay at it Timothy, don’t give up.’

I need those words sometimes. ‘You must continue.’ That’s pretty straightforward isn’t it?