Wednesday, 19 August 2020 1 Timothy 6:1-21
"Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.” -1 Timothy 6:18-19
Our priorities should always be to store up a good foundation for the future. In this chapter Apostle Paul addresses several issues—dishonoring masters, following false doctrines, running after ungodly gains, creating strife and contentions, the craving to get rich—all arising in this church at Ephesus. The love of money which Paul refers to as “a root of all kinds of evil” had led people to wander away from faith, piercing themselves with many griefs. Instead he gives them a maxim in 1 Tim.6:6- “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” He further instructs them to flee from all these things and instead pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. To achieve this good foundation there is a good fight of faith to be fought. Who else do we have as an example to follow other than Christ Himself, who said He came to serve.
The first principle is to serve Christ. “No one is able to serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and he will love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and he will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and mammon (money) (Matthew 6:24). The solution lies in verse 17, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”
Serving others means serving Christ. Matthew 25:35-40, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you………?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me..’ Thus we have the instruction to do good and be rich in good works! Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Giving is Blessing. Paul says in Acts 20:35: "In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive." In Proverbs 19:17, “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.” Then comes the promise in Hebrew 6:10: God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other believers.
Dear brethren: It would do us well to take heed to the warning given by Jesus in The Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:13-21 who hoarded wealth for himself and thought he could take life easy; “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” Jesus concluded: “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Let’s learn to do good and be generous!
Jesus said: “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each person according to what he has done.”-Jesus Christ (Revelation 22:12)
Comments