Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Tim. 4:2–3
Lord Jesus, many times when I read this Scripture, I immediately think of certain characters on TV whose perversions of the gospel raise my ire, dander and disdain. In my heart I can become a serial killer of certain “televangelists” quicker than I can swat a mosquito. I confess this as sin. I’m not boasting about or justifying my cynical attitude.
But today, as I meditate on this Scripture, I’m looking in the mirror, not at the TV. What do I do when my ears get itchy—when my demand for getting my way is stronger than my commitment to bringing you glory? How do I respond when the Scriptures say one thing, yet my wandering, bored, selfish heart yearns for something else?
Jesus, I know who to call when I want to hear what I want to hear—codependent friends who are more afraid of disappointing me than they’re committed to speaking the truth in love. I know what authors to read, what podcasts to listen to, what blogs to visit when I want a “second opinion”—that is, when I want to suit my own desires rather than serve the purposes of God. Have mercy on me, Lord. Rescue me from me.
But “in season and out of season living,” we’ll never improve upon what you say to us in the Scriptures. You alone have words of eternal life to give; everyone else simply offers formulas for temporary relief. Deepen our love for and submission to the Word, Lord Jesus. Correct, rebuke, and encourage us with the Scriptures every single day. Show us yourself in every portion of the Bible, for it’s you we need more than anything else.
Lastly, Jesus, help us be better friends to our friends. Don’t let us be the first on anybody’s speed dial when they simply want a soothing sound bite rather than sound doctrine. Don’t let us offer flattery instead of real encouragement. Don’t let us reinforce one another in foolishness. Don’t let us heal anybody’s wounds lightly (Jer. 6:14). Make us good friends—gospel friends. So very Amen we pray, in your holy and loving name. Amen.