I Timothy 1:3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
I can remember when our kids went out, be it riding a bike or driving a car, we would always give them some word of warning: to look both ways, to not speed, and to "err on the side of caution." That is good parenting advice, but sometimes in life we need to "throw caution to the wind", and to step out in courage and faith, obeying God's bold call to live out our faith. Upon recently reading Eric Metaxas Letter to the American Church, my heart and mind have been stirred to think that we have been "playing it safe" too much and too long, and it's time to really step out, step up, and speak out our faith more boldly. So, over the next few weeks we are going to look at passages, some which are well-known and some that are not so much so, which are a call to live out loud and not play it safe. Timothy's faith was evident and well-grounded, yet sometimes timid. Paul here exhorted him what God had called him to do - especially now that he had such responsibility and influence in the church: He needed to not "play it safe," but allow the power of God to be seen as his lovingly spoke and lived boldly. May we be stirred by the truths we will see these next few weeks to step up as well.
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