As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. (1Timothy 1:3-7)
Today I want to focus on God’s work. His work is accomplished by faith. I included several verses around this phrase in I Timothy 1:4b, in order to give context to the devotion.
As we study both the Old and New Testaments we discover not only Biblical characters, but we discover more about what God is like. We find that His work must be done in His way and in His timing. Honestly, as we look at some of the accounts of events, we cannot help but wonder why God chooses to do things the ways he does.
Why do evil men remain in power? Why do the prophets suffer? Why did he have men march around Jericho and blow horns on the seventh day? Why did the widow’s flour and oil not run out for three years? Why did Ahab and Jezebel remain in power despite their wickedness? Why did God choose for a donkey to talk? Why did Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey?
The short answer. We don’t know. Only God knows why he does certain things the way he does them. We have no clue. Our job is to trust, to obey, to remain steadfast, to be faithful. We are to have a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. We are to be God’s representatives here on earth.
The truth is, we may never know. But we do know this, we can trust in God’s love, character and goodness.
LORD, may we recognize your work by the power of the Holy Spirit. May we love you and trust you to do what is best for us in all things. Amen.
Selah.
Comments