NOTICE: The following
article is written by the author itself and not by me, I am not trying to
violate their copyright. I will give some information on them.
PAGE TITLE: CBN Daily Devotional
ARTICLE TITLE: Idle Talk
DATE: N.A
AUTHOR: Daphne Delay
AUTHOR
INFORMATION: Daphne
Delay is the founder of Mirror Ministries in Seminole, Texas. She is the author
of Facing the
Mirror: Finding a Self to Live With. Daphne has written over
200 articles for subscribers to Mirror Ministries and other publications, and
she blogs nuggets of spiritual growth encouragement every week. Daphne is the
wife of a senior pastor and the mother of three. www.mirrorministries.org
"I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach
the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with
all longsuffering and teaching." 2
Timothy 4:1-2
This
is strong wording from the Mentor to the Apprentice, wouldn't you say? But
apparently the Apostle Paul felt urged by the Holy Spirit to emphasize the
urgency of the hour. There is a day coming when God will require an account of
every person (Ecclesiastes
3:15). So in the meantime, we mustn't be slackers.
In
the Book of James, we are told:
"Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires
and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin,
when it is full-grown, brings forth death." James
1:14-15
Satan
is the tempter; and his goal is to deceive and lead astray. So with great
urgency Paul instructed Timothy, "Preach the Word!" - not opinion.
Paul
continued,
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears,
they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away
from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." 2
Timothy 4:3-4
It's
interesting that these words of Paul were written thousands of years ago, yet
seem applicable today. From novels to talk shows, people have been drawn away
from God's Word. As a society, we are more interested in entertainment than
truth. Apparently, Timothy's day wasn't much different.
As
pastor of the fastest-growing church in that era, Timothy was young and a bit
overwhelmed. In the first letter he received from Paul, he was reminded of his
charge:
"To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace
from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I urged you when I went into
Macedonia - remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other
doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes
rather than godly edification which is in faith." 1
Timothy 1:2-4
First
of all, what Christian doesn't need grace, mercy, and peace? But as pastor of
the church of Ephesus, Timothy had an especially big challenge on his hands
that required these affections.
Ephesus
was the largest trading town on the coast and the prominent place of worship
for Diana, the goddess of fertility. The idol worship of Diana was very sexual
in nature. So the majority of Timothy's converts had been exposed to, or
directly involved with, extreme lifestyles. So young Timothy was challenged
with the task of daily preaching God's Word to those who had once been deceived
by many things.
And
in all honesty, this is the challenge for the church at large today. From
television to movies, magazines to great literature, people have every form of
entertainment at their fingertips. We need the Word of God as our daily food,
but our itching ears desire amusement and pleasure. Ironically, the word
"entertainment" is also defined as distraction and diversion - both
tools of the enemy used to entice and pull believers away from the truth.
But
Paul said,
"Stay in Ephesus and stop those whose teaching is contrary to
the truth. Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and
spiritual [fables]. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which
don’t help people live a life of faith in God. The purpose of my instruction is
that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a
clear conscience, and genuine faith. But some people have missed this whole
point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in
meaningless discussions [idle talk]." 1
Timothy 1:3-6, NLT
And
therein is the danger: idle
talk. Instead of encouraging one another with God's Word, we
spend hours talking about the latest headlines or this weekend's breakout
movie, who was or wasn't eliminated off our favorite reality show or the big
play that won or lost the game last night.
Are
these things bad? Of course not. The problem is if that's all we talk about.
Does our conversation ever encourage, uplift, or instruct based on scripture?
Do we "speak of the glory of [His] kingdom and talk of [His] power" (Psalm
145:11)? Do we speak God's Word "when we sit in our houses and when we
walk by the way, when we lie down, and when we rise up" (Deuteronomy
6:7)? Do we, like the two on the road to Emmaus, share God's Word with one
another until our hearts burn within us (Luke
24:32)? Or have we, little by little, been turned aside by fables and
gap-filling conversation?
I
enjoy a good movie and I have some favorite reality shows I like to follow. But
I hope my conversation is not filled with these things alone. Instead, my
endeavor is to listen carefully for opportunities to share God's Word with
others and inspire them to study the scriptures for themselves.
"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God
stands forever."
Isaiah
40:8
Or
we could say, "The excitement of the headlines and enjoyment of the latest
and greatest movie fades, but the Word of our God never will." And if
that's not how we feel about God's Word, then maybe we're more deceived than
we'd like to think... Maybe the enemy has blinded our hearts lest we say,
"Oh, how I love Your Word! It is my meditation all the
day."
Psalm
119:97
I
pray God would give us all a renewed hunger for the truth and an appetite for
godly conversation without fear. Let us determine to fill the gaps with that
which edifies and lasts.
"Therefore, since we have such hope, may we speak very freely
and openly and fearlessly." 2
Corinthians 3:12, AMP
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