1 Timothy 6:17-21
Eternity Online: John Edmiston (Editor)
Eternity-Inspiration for Thursday 19th March 1998
(1 Tim 6:17-21 NKJV) Command those who are rich in this present age
not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living
God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. {18} Let them do good,
that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, {19}
storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that
they may lay hold on eternal life. {20} O Timothy! Guard what was
committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and
contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge; {21} by professing
it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.
These last verses in the book of 1 Timothy build on the themes of
the epistle - false teaching, the love of money and Christian
devotion to good works. Firstly the rich are not to trust in their
riches but in the living God. Paul does not condemn the rich as
heartily as James does. Paul came from the elite himself and knows
that rich people can have a real love of God. However, like James,
he does not allow wealth to be the basis of our identity and
security or a source of pride. Riches are a provision of God and we
are not to be haughty about them. It is easy to trust in money more
than God and to feel insecure when the bank account is low and
secure when the bank account is full. That is a false view of
security. We are secure only when our heavenly bank account is full
of good works and deeds of love wrought in God.
The rich are to be devoted to good deeds and to sharing. " Let them
do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to
share, {19} storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time
to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.". Rich Christians
should be "ready to give" and many are. God has given them money so
they can use it to bless others. I was talking to a friend who
struggles in his ministry skills so he generously gives most of his
income to various Christian causes. He recognises that he is better
at earning the money and that these ministries are better at
preaching the gospel. The rich do have a place in the Kingdom and I
am thankful for those that so generously help my ministry. Its a
case of the giver and the preacher working together to glorify God.
Finally Paul exhorts Timothy to avoid that which "is falsely called
knowledge". The "gnostics" held that knowledge - not faith, was the
pathway to God and that ignorance, not sin, was the chief trouble of
mankind.To trust in this "gnosis" (Gk. for knowledge) was to trust in
what you knew rather than in Christ. It was "knowing about" God
instead of knowing God. So it led people away from Jesus Christ
instead of towards Him. Some of the contentious books with garish
covers that appear crusading on this or that issue and purporting to
be scholarship are often full of wranglings and arguments over words
that ruin the hearer. To be drawn into the argumentative Christian
life is to lose both graciousness and grace.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus let us trust in You not in our wealth or our knowledge.
Let us be 100% dependent on You and receivers of grace through faith
not proud and clanging cymbals full of self. O Lord save us from
ourselves and our tendency to wander in self-will. Amen.
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John Edmiston ([email protected])
Editor - Eternity Online Magazine http://www.eternity-magazine.org/
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