As a driver, I am thankful for the “Stop Ahead” sign. It lets me know I am approaching a STOP sign. It is not meant to keep me from something good, but it alerts me so that I will not respond wrongly. God’s Word does that with us on a grander scale. In 2 Timothy 3, we are given a warning but what happens when the last days come. As Christ’s return approaches, we are told there will be times of difficulty. These are not merely times of personal trials but people of rebellion. Verses 2-4 say, “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God”. Before we point the finger, we must examine our hearts to see how we are heeding the warning. We don’t want to be deceived during these times of difficulty, and verse 5 highlights this, “having the appearance of godliness,  but denying its power”. However, as we examine ourselves, if we are sound in the faith, the next command we are given is to avoid the people of rebellion. If we do not, we will not only be deceived by them but it will lead to a destruction that culminates in “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (verse 7). While we can expect a heighten sense of this closer to Christ’s return, in another sense this is not anything new because it occurred in Moses’ day too (verses 8-9). Yet, we know the fate of their folly and that the Lord is faithful to His people. His warnings are not to keep us from something good but to alert us from heading into something bad. Let’s heed the warning from the Word.

Reflection Questions:

1. Why is it important to examine our hearts before we consider the command to avoid?
2. How does seeing evidence of these times of difficulty encourage you to trust in God?