Be Still And Know

2 Timothy 2:20-21 Here Paul is describing the Church. It is made up of very different people who have a wide variety of roles. Paul’s concern is that Timothy should live in a state of constant readiness for whatever the Lord might want him to do. But he could only do that by keeping himself pure. Paul had his eyes wide open to the challenges that Timothy would face as a young leader in a non-Christian, and largely anti-Christian, society. He knew Timothy would be tempted to compromise and to slip back into godless ways. And, of course, Paul would say exactly the same to leaders today. Our society is driven by a lust for money, sex and power in just the same way as Roman society was. It is clearly expressed in completely different ways but the challenge to keep pure is as vital today as it was then. The devil does an amazing job in making purity sound dull and joyless, because the truth is the exact opposite. Purity is the route to living life to the full and Paul was eager that Timothy shouldn’t settle fo