Pressing On

 “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it...”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The world in which we live is antagonistic toward the Christian faith. It’s hostile to the Christian faith. And this is more true now than it's ever been. 

Persecution directed against believers in Jesus is worse than it’s ever been in the course of human history. We see it in atheistic regimes, as well as in Muslim nations. But we see it even in nations that have been historically Christian, including here in the United States.

In addition, those among whom we live seem enamored by evil. They are determined to satisfy their every passion. And they’ll do so no matter who they hurt in the process.

In the face of this, it can be hard to remain faithful. Our sense of self-preservation pulls us to turn away from the faith. And our natural desire to be liked and accepted leads us to surrender to the culture in which we live.

 But in the face of an ever hostile world, we are called to do just that. We're called to remain faithful. In the face of a world pursuing evil, we are called to continue on. 

We’re to continue on in the faith we have firmly believed. We’re to continue in the faith which was taught to us. And we’re to do so knowing from whom we learned it.

In the case of Timothy, he’d learned the faith from his mother and grandmother. The same is true of many of us. It’s our family who introduced us to the faith. And we know that they are trustworthy.

Timothy had also been discipled by the apostle Paul. And it was not merely a relationship between student and teacher. It’s clear that a closeness developed between them. In the same way, we tend to become very close to those who’ve taught us the faith. They are not merely teachers. They are our spiritual fathers and mothers. And, like our natural parents, we know that they love us and have our best interests at heart.

This, of course, is not true of those seeking to lead us astray. They are not trustworthy. They seek not our best interest. And they do not truly love us. There are other motives at work.

Realizing this, in spite of the world around us, we hold firmly to our faith. We continue in what we’ve learned. And we continue in what we’ve firmly believed.