Welcome to the final day of The Challenge! Our verse today is II Timothy 2:26:
~
"And that they may recover themselves
out of the snare of the devil, who are
taken captive by him at his will. "
~
In the preceding verses, Paul is describing to Timothy the attributes that should be displayed by a “Servant of the Lord.” One of these attributes is to be able, in a spirit of meekness (which is having your strength under the control of the Holy Spirit), to instruct those who oppose the teachings of Christ. That they might, ironically, obey the Command of Christ to repent.
In verse 26, Paul states that those who repent will be saved from the “snare of the devil.” I believe, that the snare of the devil, of which we are warned of in various places in Scripture (e.g. Ephesians 6:11 and I Timothy 3:7), is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. (See I John 2:16.) The real problem of those who oppose Jesus Christ, and the problem we had before we came to faith in Christ is…US! That is why Jesus came to deliver all those who want to be free from the consequences of falling prey to our own lusts. For if Jesus Christ is not the Lord of our lives we are taken captive by Satan whenever he desires to use us for his purposes.
In light of this verse, there are three questions we all should ask ourselves.
- Have you fully surrendered your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? (Phil. 2:11)
- Are you displaying the character of a “Servant of the Lord”? (2 Tim. 2:24-25)
- What steps have you taken to prepare yourself to be able to instruct, others in order for you to disciple them? (Heb. 5:12-14, Matt. 28:19-20)
~ Jordan Webster
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January 26th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
This comment doesn’t really have anything to do with the post above. I just wanted to say I have enjoyed this challenge immensely and God’s Word has spoken sharply to me. It often said things I didn’t necessarily want it to say, but as I meditated on the passage I found myself arguing less with theologians’ interpretation and more with God himself. This has been a wonderful way to continue the journey, and I’m glad that Living the Journey was able to put it on.:-)
Tim Edelblut
January 27th, 2009 at 6:45 am
You put it very well Jordan. It is a wild animals bloodthirstiness that the trapper takes advantage of when luring it to the trap, and it is our own lusts that Satan uses to trap us (James 1:15). When you see a ravenous wild beast who has yielded his or her body to the control of the evil one, remember the agony that goes along with that entrapment, and that all people’s hearts are the same. How would you respond if it was a baby deer or your own dog caught in the trap? That is the attitude we should have towards those who are now Satan’s captives. Those are good questions to ask.