2 Timothy 2:1-2
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
Colossians 2:6-7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Devotion
Out of the process of discipleship comes the principle of multiplication. Multiplying is helping to form another disciple who will form another disciple. Multiplication is life-on-life discipleship. As disciples, we teach others to grow in grace, train them in God’s Word, and challenge them to reproduce the discipleship process in the lives of others. Jesus did this with His disciples. Paul did this with his disciples. The whole early church was built around multiplying discipleship.
In 2 Timothy 2, Paul is instructing Timothy to “entrust to reliable men” those things that he had learned from Paul. Paul was multiplying himself in the lives of those he was discipling so that they would reproduce the process that was used with them. As I look back on the last 31 years of ministry, it is obvious that I have just reproduced what was done with me. Someone took the time to disciple me, and I have been reproducing that process ever since.
This process is not dependent on theological schools and great curriculum, but rather on the faithfulness of Jesus’ disciples making disciples who make disciples. We are here today because of faithful disciples throughout the ages who understood the mission and mandate of making disciples.
The Big Question
Who’s learning to do what you do? Who’s walking in your footsteps spiritually? What does it look like to entrust the gospel to “reliable” people who will pass it on to the next generation? Who in your life is showing you how to grow as a disciple? Who are you helping to grow in Christ-likeness?
Spend some time in prayer meditating on what God revealed to you today.