Training for the Marathon
1 TIMOTHY 4:1-16
(October 19)
In his younger years, my son was quite an athlete. He spent 12 months of the year training, so you can imagine how that felt to us like a very long marathon. He put much time and effort into several sports, and his hard work paid off for him. His reward was great.
Paul is urging the church to stand guard and prepare their hearts and minds for the false teaching that is coming at them. There will be many who are tempted by false teachers and turn away from the faith. Paul wants them to not worry about arguing with these people, but to spend their time training themselves to be godly. "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come." (V8) Paul wants everyone to trust in this.
The false teachers were threatening the church, just as Jesus and the apostles had often warned. Certain people in Ephesus began to follow some Greek philosophers who claimed the body was evil and only the soul was of importance. They also stated that the God of creation could not be good, because he had physical contact with the world, which would have caused him blemish. They honored Jesus but did not believe in he was truly human. Paul feared that if their teachings weren't halted it would greatly distort Christianity.
Paul called them "Hypocrits and liars." (v. 2) Satan is so good at deceiving us by offering clever imitations of the real thing. To make themselves appear more righteous and self-disciplined, these false teachers gave stringent rules such as not being able to marry or eat certain foods.
Paul urged the church to teach the importance of godly training to everyone. He especially urged Timothy to do so, and to not worry about his youth, his faith, or anything else. He wanted Timothy to continue to pour into the church through reading Scriptures, encouraging, and teaching them.
Timothy had received that spiritual gift when prophecy had been spoken over him and hands had been laid on him. Paul urged him to throw himself into his gift, keeping a close watch on how he lived, staying true to what is right. Paul was preparing Timothy for the marathon before him.