Scripture

1 Timothy 5:24-25 (NIV)
24 The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them.
25 In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever.

Observation

Each day, when I do my devotions, I divide them up into two parts. First, I listen to them and then later on I read through them to see if there’s anything that catches my attention. Very rarely will I go through reading and not have something that stands out. Today, in reading through 2 Kings 10 we were focused on Jehu and the destruction of the house of Ahab. It was almost like watching some modern-day revenge movie like the Wrath of Man or any Taken film. Here’s this scene, in 2 Kings 10, where Jehu is riding away in his chariot, after wiping out 42 relatives of Ahab, he sees his buddy Jehonadab, on the way to meet him. Jehu calls out to Jehonadab, reaches his hand out, pulls him into the chariot, and in a gruff voice say’s, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” I can’t make this stuff up. Here’s the text:

15 After he left there, he came upon Jehonadab son of Rekab, who was on his way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, “Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?”
“I am,” Jehonadab answered.
“If so,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.” So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot. 16 Jehu said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” Then he had him ride along in his chariot. (2 Kings 10:15-16 NIV).

The Wrath of Man is nothing compared to the Wrath of God. When God sends someone to clean house, that place is wiped down, spick and span. This leads me to 1 Timothy 5:24 and 25. These two verses stuck out to me today, they were the last in the reading and I wondered what it was about them that I was supposed to pick up on. I thought on Galatians 6:9 and not growing weary from doing good back to Isaiah 40:31 and remembering that “those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint” (NIV), but those just didn’t do it. I mean, they are wonderful verses and they’re true, but they just didn’t seem to line up with 1 Timothy 5:24 and 25.

Then the Lord gave me a little nudge and suggested that I look ahead in the reading to 1 Timothy 6. After all, this is a letter from Paul to Timothy. It wasn’t originally intended to only be read in parts. And there it was, 1 Timothy 6:1, “Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled” (ESV). The light came on and I realized that Paul was instructing Timothy regarding servants at the end of 1 Timothy 5. Paul had already covered widows and elders through that chapter and started talking to Timothy about servants and their masters.

You see, when there are a bunch of people, all serving the same master, sometimes there are people who do what the master says to do and then there are those who do not. Kinda like us, as we walk through this world. We have only one master, that is God, in heaven. Although some indeed serve other masters. Sometimes we can become distracted by people who seem to be doing very well. We see them on television, see their faces on the covers of magazines and hear their voices on the radio. Some of these people aren’t serving God, right now. They have rich lavish lifestyles that beg to be coveted.

We can see these people, who seem to be doing better than us, and we know their sins. We read about them, and they are judged. We might wonder why these people, who are “sinners”, are so well off when we seem to be struggling day-to-day. Thoughts bounce around our skulls sometimes when we focus on them.

We, as Believers, are supposed to keep our eyes focused on God and eternal things. We might think that the right things, the good things, aren’t so obvious, but they are; sometimes just to God. Other times, well, you never know whose watching you. Our job is to serve God, to be ready for when He gets here or we’re called Home. We don’t need to focus on who’s doing what because God’s got it covered and He’s coming back. Trust me.

Do you know God? God knows you and He loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. Nothing is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, right now, and He wants you to know Him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so that we could be free of guilt, be freed from death, and live eternally with Him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.

Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation today:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.

Advertisement