Verse: 2 Timothy 3:10-15
10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Devotion
When I was a kid I went to a summer camp every year that was situated just off the Chesapeake Bay in MD. One of the highlights for me was sailing. I made my way through the levels each year until I was allowed to take this little "Sunny" boat out by myself—as a 5th grader!
Of course, one of the challenges was "staying on course." The wind and the water didn't always cooperate with helping you go in the direction you wanted to go.
So I had to learn to "tack." I had to move the boat and the sail back and forth into the right position in order to harness the wind, and go where I wanted to go. If I lost focus, or gave up, I'd end up going wherever the currents and wind wanted to take me.
This is a great illustration for what Paul is telling Timothy in this verse. He is saying we will face persecution if we are followers of Jesus. It's "if", not "when." We will face persecutions, and we will deal with people who will try to deceive us. Both of these will basically try to throw us off the course of following Jesus.
We need to respond by staying faithful. By persevering. By not giving up. That is my encouragement to you today as you read this passage. There are a lot of things that will resist you as you try to follow Jesus. People, circumstances, ideas, and more will threaten to throw you off course. My encouragement is to STAY ON COURSE! Don't get discouraged. Don't give up!! Keep pressing on towards Jesus. It will be worth it in the end!