“Put Your Hope In The Living God…!”

“Put Your Hope In The Living God.. !”(I Tim.4:6-10).
The teaching ministry was as central to Jesus as the preaching ministry. By the way, sound preaching is nothing but teaching.
Mainline denominations may argue that Church run schools are a continuation of the teaching ministry of Jesus, but this is far from the truth. Missionary schools were intended as an evangelistic strategy whereby the pupils(who were already matured persons) were fed with facts that they had to indirectly transmit to their parents at home.
Since then, all mainline indigenous African denominations have continued with enhancing education. The sad reality, however, is that those schools – even when we see them as none-for-profit – exist solely for profit-making. Poor Christians cannot afford to enrol their children in any Faith Based School – from kindergarten to tertiary levels.
Another sad reality is that the place of Scriptures is often downplayed. (We speak from experience. I have served as a chaplain of three church colleges, a few secular colleges, a chaplain of one Church-owned university, and one secular university).
The core ministries of Jesus was teaching, preaching and healing(Mt.4:23); and in the Great Commission he told us that after converting people to him we should “teach them to obey everything he has commanded”(Mt.28:20a).
In today’s text, Paul urges young Timothy to be a teacher of the good teaching he had received. The Very Rev Nyansako-ni-Nku of blessed memory used to tell us that the pastor should be one who has his Bible in his right hand and the newspaper in the other hand. We cannot give what we do not have. Teachers have to be informed before they can inform others. Any teacher who is not informed is deformmed and can only unteach others in the name of teaching them – a blindman leading others!
Teachers should shy away from “godly myths and old wives’ tales;” and rather train themselves to be godly because “godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Godless myths and old wives’ tales include false teachings about marriage and the imposition of meaningless food taboos by hypocritical liars!(I Tim.4:2-5).
To both teachers and learners: “This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labour and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.”
Yes, dear friend; our hope is built on nothing else than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. On Christ the solid rock we should stand so that we do not fall for anything else!
Prayer: Holy Spirit, help me daily to put my hope in the living God who is our Savior. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
01/04/2025.