Itching Ears

Chuckle: "Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough." -- Lynnette, age 8

Quote: "Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth." --Henry David Thoreau

ITCHING EARS

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear" (2 Timothy 4:3 NIV).

Have you ever made up your mind about something but were secretly bothered by doubt that you had made the right decision? Have you then continued to ask people their opinions about it until you finally found someone who agreed with you? When you found someone who said what you wanted to hear, did that convince you that your decision was the right one? In our passage, we are warned that a time will come when people will no longer listen to the sound doctrinal truths of God's Word because they conflict with their worldly views and the lifestyles they have chosen.

Paul warns us about preachers and teachers who only teach what their audiences want to hear. I have seen people go from one church to another until they found a preacher who preached only that which made them feel good about themselves rather than convicting them of the disobedience and sin in their lives. I suppose every preacher has, at one time or another, been tempted to preach what the congregation wanted to hear rather than being faithful to God's Word and preaching what they needed to hear.

When you itch, it certainly feels good to have that itch scratched. But, as Christians, we should be thankful for preachers and teachers that refuse to scratch our itches. If you are a teacher, please don't sell your conscience in exchange for compliments from your audience. If you are a class or congregation member, do your ears itch to hear a certain opinion or do you thirst for the undiluted truth of God's Word?

Take for example the Biblical teaching that tithing a tenth of your income is God's standard. You may have made up your mind that you are not going to tithe and you don't want to hear sermons on tithing because it makes you uncomfortable. Instead, you may want the preacher to be silent on the subject, or better yet, you want to be told it's alright for you to ignore God's instructions for His people. You need to have your itching ears scratched with justification for your position on the subject. Let's pray together that each of us will long for the sound doctrinal truths from God's Word.

Love, Jerry & Dotse