Not giving heed to
Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth.
Titus 1:14
Dear Heavenly
Father, life is tough but you taught us not to worry about tomorrow. I rest in your provision. Please encourage me and my family and help us
lean on you. I thank You and praise You
for everything. You are awesome! In Jesus's name I pray, Amen.
We are still in the body portion of the letter which focuses on doctrine and encouragement. This verse describes how NOT to be "sound in the faith" from
verse 13. To bring deeper understanding
to today's text, let's examine some key words and their companion or similar
verses.
"Giving
heed" in the Greek is prosecho
which means hold to, attend to, turn to, to give full attention, to set a
course and keep it, hold or cleave to a person or a thing. 1 Timothy 1:4 states "nor give heed to
fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly
edification which is in faith."
"Fables" in the Greek is muthos
which means speech, story, idle tale, fanciful story, myth, false account yet
posing as true, fabrication which subverts what is actually true, invention,
fiction, illusion. Being sound in the
faith is NOT holding onto or cleaving or giving full attention to fabrications that subvert what is true.
These false accounts that pose as being true will cause disputes and
divisions among believers.
"Commandments"
in the Greek is entole which means
injunction, order, ordinance, law, end result of a command, authoritative order
or warning. Colossians 2:22 states
"which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the
commandments and doctrines of men?"
"Men" in
the Greek is anthropos which means
human, mankind, people including men and women.
"Turn" in the Greek is apostrepho
which means turn away, turn back, pervert, remove, restore, replace, desert,
reject. "Truth" in the Greek
is alethia which means but not merely
truth as spoken, truth of idea, reality, sincerity, truth in moral sphere,
divine truth revealed to man, straightforwardness, opposite of illusion,
certainty, veracity, accuracy, conformance to facts. 1 Timothy 6:20 states "O Timothy! Guard
what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and
contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge—." Being sound in the faith is NOT keeping
warnings or laws or orders from humans who replace the truth for a lie.
What myths do people
hold onto today? The answer is anything
that they want. For example, in
Australia in a recent census, 70,000 people cling to the Jedi Faith. The Jedi Religion movement is based on the
Star Wars fictional entertainment universe.
What warnings do people hold onto today? We are warned about what we eat
all the way to the end of the world.
"Modern doomsayers have been predicting climate and environmental
disaster since the 1960s. They continue to do so today. None of the apocalyptic
predictions with due dates as of today have come true." Quote from https://cei.org/blog/wrong-again-50-years-failed-eco-pocalyptic-predictions. In 1967, dire famine by 1975. In 1969, pollution will make everyone
disappear by 1989. In 1970, the next ice
age will arrive in 2000. In 1988,
Maldives islands completely under water by 2018. In 2002, famine in 10 years. In 2008, Ice-free Artic by 2013.
There is a reason
why there is more dystopia entertainment than utopia. People crave, cleave to doom, death,
destruction, or some other terrible fate.
People also tend to exaggerate to make a point or get accomplished what
they want. People also want to believe
in what they want no matter how fanciful, preposterous, and false. However, as believers, we are instructed not
to give any attention to these myths and warnings. In Matthew 6, Jesus instructs us about
worrying about tomorrow.
25
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or
what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life
more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the
air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by
worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they
grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in
all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the
grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will
He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’
or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For
your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added
to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Don't worry about
tomorrow. Cling to Christ.
Not paying attention
to Jewish myths and the commandments and rules of men who turn their backs on
the truth.
Amplified Bible
