Don't Walk Away... Come Home to Your Mama

“Acquaintance, Learning, Knowledge, Belief, Wisdom, Salvation,

... and Fullness”

(2 Timothy 3:14-15)

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed,

Paul does not consider it rude to state the obvious to his younger colleague, Timothy. Yes others will go from bad to worse, deceiving others about any number of things, and being deceived by themselves. Paul's advice: Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed. There will always be new ideas. Do not minimize the old foundation that you have received. Do not start every day as an adventure between your open mind and an intriguing world. You have been given a past. Don't discard it like an old tissue...

knowing from whom you learned it

Your spiritual heritage is not just a collection of propositions or a list of behaviors. It is a way of life that is connected with people who have nourished and cherished you. When you are tempted to consider your spiritual heritage as nothing or even as a drag upon your choices and feelings, remember the people from whom you learned it.

Think about it. Think about them. They were not all bad in their love for you. Do you really want to toss out what they held most dear and start with nothing? The idea of starting with nothing is an illusion. When you think that you are starting with nothing, you are replacing the faith of parents and grandparents with the spirit of the age. Though the spirit of the age looks like it is nothing at the time when you live in it, it later emerges as its own set of ideas and behaviors that were so commonly accepted at the time that they just seemed like nothing. Better remember your mother and your grandmother.

15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings,

Then remember the things that they read you from the Scriptures if you were blessed with that kind of upbringing. Did someone teach you how to pray back before you knew what the word “hallowed” actually meant? Did someone tell you about David and Goliath? Did you learn these words: “The Lord is my shepherd?” Were you taught the Ten Commandments? If you throw those out, what will you put in their place? There will be rules. There will be right and wrong. “Thou shalt not smoke tobacco?” “Majority rules.” Those ideas may even have some merit, but do you really want to throw out the Bible?

which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

The Scriptures must be read with faith in the Lord. The unfolding story is easily dismissed by many who come “with an open mind” that is not as open as we think, but is actually chock full of the spirit of the age. But for those who ask for the fullness of the Spirit of the Lord instead, the Scriptures are the unfolding story of the eternal purpose of God. Mom and grandma did not understand all of it. But they may have known enough to not throw it all away. They may have known enough to believe that there was life after death, and to believe in Jesus Christ.

The Scriptures are able to make you wise. They are all about Jesus, His death, and His resurrection. Don't throw it all away. Don't throw away the people who taught you that story. Don't reinvent your life. Don't throw away Jesus. He died for you. At that point of crisis in your life, go for more of the Lord, not for less. Ask for the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and let Him show you how to grow in the foundation that you have received.