Drifting
Paul was writing to his young disciple, Timothy. He was trying to encourage him to stay true and have faith in the Scriptures which he had learned as a child from his mother and grandmother. There’s always a tendency to drift or turn away from truth, whether in trials or in plenty. We have to remember that we are born with a sinful nature. When we trust the gospel for salvation, we begin the process of sanctification, growing into the image of Christ our Savior.
But in this process, we must be conscious of the fact that we can fall away from our first love, and become cold in our zeal. The word of God is always more powerful than the tests we are facing. Our old nature still exists with all its trappings. We are new creations in Christ, but scripture is very clear that we must continue to ‘renew our mind’. It is daily, not every once in a while. That is why we need desperately to take in the word: memorizing, meditating on it, standing firmly in it.
4 things to remember
Four profitable things are mentioned in these verses. Doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness. In the hands of the Holy Spirit, the word is our school master, our teacher. The younger we learn the word of God, the more able we will be to live victorious lives by faith. That is why it is so critical to teach your children scripture at a time when their minds are more open to learning. You are equipping them for every good work for which God has designed them. Nothing could be better!