Daily Devotion
What Itching Ears Wanna Know
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom: 2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.
3For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
5But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Tim. 4:1-5
This morning on my video blog or vlog as it is called, I discussed this particular section of scripture that gives us an inside look at Paul and Timothy's relationship. Paul, of course, is a bit of a surrogate father to Timothy, a father of the faith. So, Paul has a unique place in his heart for him, and we almost see an extra layer of wisdom being poured out in these two letters to Timothy. If you put the father's hat on and look at what Paul is telling Timothy, you see him coaching him and encouraging him to be strong in his position as a leader in the church. When he gets to the section on the itching ears you can feel a little more of Paul’s personality coming through by the Holy Spirit. I know it is unique to speak this way of the Scriptures, but remember the Bible writer's personality is used in the transforming truth that is being written down, which makes the word of God so powerfully unique.
Paul exhorts Timothy to watch for those who are looking for popular teachers - maybe even from a modern sense those teachers and preachers that tickle the ears in such a way as to give them a sense of license to do whatever they want to do. Anyone who is ever done any counseling knows that people go “counselor shopping.” In other words, you look for someone who will tell you what you want to hear, instead of a person who tells you what you need to hear. You will notice that Paul prefaced his discussion regarding these kinds of teachers with a contrast to the kind of teacher that Timothy needed to be. He said preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season, rebuke, encourage and reprove with all love and concern.
So I will make this a short post today. Let me encourage you to look to the Word of God to not only embolden you and give you hope, faith, and love but look to the scriptures to do the kind of refining work that is described in Malachi 3:2 as the refiner’s fire and the launderer’s soap. This is the kind of work that craftsmen embark upon to shape, hone, and press their work into the shape of their desire. This is your God. He wants to shape you into his image both in character and action. If you're not being shaped, challenged, or exhorted and even rebuked in some of the wily ways that you and I walk in, then perhaps it's time to take a good look at what you are listening to or more to the point, who are you listening to.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor David M. Schmaltz