2 Timothy 3:1-5
1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
Say what you want, but when I read this I can't help but think we are definitely living in the last days. The way Paul describes how people will be to Timothy sounds a lot like the world we live in today. If you can't see that you are blind and need the scales lifted from your eyes.
The longer I live and the older I get I see these types of attitudes in people more and more. We live in a society that does nothing more than to promote these attitudes. As humans we show off the things we invest in. The attitudes and philosophies of life brought out by Paul here are seen day in and day out in the things Hollywood bombards our lives with through entertainment.
My wife and I have now been without Satelite TV or Cable for almost two years now, and honestly I don't miss it. What would happen if everyone pulled the plug on Hollywood and got back to the Word of God that is the best guidance anyone could have and follow.
Paul tells Timothy to avoid the people he lists out in this passage of scripture. I agree. We need to be very mindful of the people we spend the majority of our time with. I am a firm believer and tell the teenagers at church all the time the people we associate with is who we become in time. When you spend large amounts of time with people one of two things happens. 1. You change them. 2. They change you.
As Christians the sad thing is the second happens more than the first. My question is what if we were so rooted and grounded in God that everyone noticed? What if instead of being influenced by the world, that we influenced the world. It is time we as Christians wake up and realize how much bigger God is than the world and what He wants to do in our lives and through our lives.
My prayer is that I would only be influenced by God and not the negative effect of the world. I pray God would put people in my life and surround me with people who are going to make a positive influence in me and not drag me down. I pray that I would be the kind of person God can use to influence society and not the kind of person who is influenced by society.
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