Insight for Living

Whatever we may say about the Bible, we may be sure of this: it tells us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We may not want to hear it or face it, but nevertheless there it is: realism in the raw. Like no other book in existence, it enables us to see the ugliness of sin. God’s Word strips off all the veneer of fanciful optimism as it cuts to the chase and reveals the evil that lurks in the dark shadows of the world around us. It goes far deeper as it exposes the nature within us . . . the subtle temptations that allure us, the shameful thoughts we’d rather keep secret, and even the selfish motives we try to hide. Some sections of the Scriptures are painfully clear when it comes to this kind of realism—and the verses we’re looking at today represent a classic example. Since “all the world’s a stage,” as Shakespeare once wrote, Paul pulls back the curtains in the initial verses of 2 Timothy 3 to give us a glimpse of how wicked this world has become and how treacherous our times really are.