Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our Reading Today titled Scripture Training was written by Kenneth Peterson.

In the late 1800s, people in different places developed similar ministry resources at the same time.

The first was in Montreal, Canada, in 1877.

In 1898, another concept was launched in New York City.

By 1920, some 5,000 of these programs were active in North America each summer.

Thus began the early history of Vacation Bible School.

The passion that fueled those VBS pioneers was a desire for young people to know the Bible.

Paul had a similar passion for his young protege, Timothy, writing that scripture

is God-breathed and equips us for every good work. But this wasn't just the benign suggestion

that it's good to read your Bible. Paul's admonition follows the dire warning that there will be

terrible times in the last days

with false teachers who are never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. It's essential we

protect ourselves with Scripture, for it immerses us in the knowledge of our Savior, making

us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Studying the Bible isn't just for kids, it's for adults too, and it isn't just for summer.

It's for every day. Paul wrote to Timothy, from infancy, you have known the Holy Scriptures, but it's never too late to

begin. Whatever stage of life we're in, the wisdom of the Bible connects us to Jesus.

This is God's VBS lesson to us all.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 1 through 9, and verses 14 through 17.

But mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,

boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love,

...