All cultures have adopted social norms and mores to establish acceptable forms of behavior for their society. Without these there would be chaos. However, some people, in an effort to control their environment, are prone to take the norm setting to an extreme. An example of this was the elaborate system of rules established by the Pharisees to govern conduct on the Sabbath. Even in the young church in Ephesus, there were some who wanted to make extreme rules governing behavior. Paul is reminding Timothy that everything created by God is good and we need not live in fear. While there certainly is danger in abusing our freedoms, our safety is in spiritual maturity, not in labeling certain foods or conduct with, ‘Do Not!’
The healthy development of our physical bodies requires exercise. While haphazard exercise is better than none, a specific plan achieves far greater results. When it’s all said and done and we get to meet our Maker, I suspect our greatest sorrow will be in the awareness of the blessings we never received because we never asked. Following closely behind will be the sorrow of realizing the pitfalls we could have avoided, and the good we could have accomplished, had we taken the time to study and learn from the Holy Scriptures.
What word or phrase in these verses
attracts your attention?
Reflect on that word or phrase.
What insights come to you?
How does this passage touch your life today?
Reading for 14-Apr-12 1 Tim. 5:9-6:21
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