Thursday, March 6, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: 1 Timothy 6, 2 Timothy 1
Devotional Thought
Paul writes his final letters with the awareness that his race is nearly run. In 1 Timothy 6, he instructs Timothy on how slaves should honor their masters, warns against those who suppose godliness is a means of gain, and delivers one of Scripture’s most sobering statements: “the love of money is the root of all evil.” He charges Timothy to flee these things, to fight the good fight of faith, and to keep the commandment spotless until Christ’s appearing. Then he lifts his eyes to the horizon of eternity: “who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto.” The chapter closes with a word to the rich—trust not in uncertain riches, but be rich in good works, laying hold on eternal life.
Second Timothy opens with a different tone. Paul, “an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,” writes to his “dearly beloved son” Timothy, remembering his tears and longing to see him. He recalls the genuine faith that dwelt first in Timothy’s grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. Here is a tender genealogy of grace—faith handed down like a family heirloom, from Lois to Eunice to Timothy. Paul stirs up the gift of God in him, reminding him that “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
These two chapters belong together. One tells us what to flee; the other tells us what to fan into flame. Paul, writing from a Roman prison, is not bitter or fearful. He is finishing well, and he wants Timothy to do the same.
We read this in early March, when winter still grips the ground but the light lingers a little longer each evening. Lent has begun. It is a season for examining what we love and what we fear. The love of money, the fear of suffering, the temptation to shrink back—these are not abstract sins. They show up in how we spend, how we speak, how we hide our faith at the office or the dinner table. Paul’s answer is not willpower but remembrance: remember Lois, remember Eunice, remember the gift that was given you. Faith is not mustered; it is stirred up, like embers under ash. And the God who raised Christ from the dead is still able to keep that which we have committed unto Him against that day.
Reflection
- Where in your life has the love of money or the fear of man quietly taken root, and what would it look like this week to flee it and pursue righteousness instead?
- Who handed faith down to you—a Lois, an Eunice, a Paul—and how might you stir up that gift rather than let it grow cold?
Prayer
Father, we thank You for the faithful witnesses who came before us, for mothers and grandmothers and mentors who handed down a genuine faith. Stir up in us the gift You have given, and deliver us from the love of money and the spirit of fear. Grant us power, love, and a sound mind, that we might fight the good fight and keep the faith committed to us. Keep us until that day when Christ shall appear, and let us be found faithful. In His name we pray. Amen.