It’s interesting. Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach or teach the Bible. Nor does it seem they ever asked Him. But they frequently observed Him praying – the God-Man communing with His Father. On at least one occasion they were motivated to ask Him for a lesson on the topic – so He gave them one. Paul now gives Timothy a brief lesson here.
God’s callings are always accompanied by His enabling. He will never call us to do something without also enabling us to do it. Many times the Lord asks us to do something that is impossible. And then, working in us, by His Spirit, He proceeds to do the impossible. The person who receives the most from God’s grace is not the one who has the most forgiven, but the one who is the most transformed.
Americans spend about $300 Billion on entertainment each year. We obviously love to be entertained. In a culture like this, how can the church ever expect to compete for people’s attention? The answer is simple: We can’t. But happily, we don’t have to compete. The church is not here to entertain people, but to teach sound doctrine. No one can compete with us in that. It’s not easy to find it anyplace else.
The city of Lystra gave Paul both a high point and a low point in his ministry. On the low end, he was stoned by an irate mob, dragged out of town and left for dead. On the high end, it was there that he met Timothy, his “true son in the faith,” a faithful friend and assistant in his work. These are Paul’s intructions to the young man.