Promise of Life to Come
I
absolutely love the way Paul starts this letter. It is very much the same as all his other
letters, but as with all the letters there is a small, subtle touch. In this letter Paul tells us that he is an
apostle of God by God’s will and according to the promise of the life that
comes through Jesus Christ.
Now, this
might not seem like all that big of a deal.
After all, this is pretty standard Christian understanding, isn’t
it? What makes this declaration
memorable is the circumstance in which the words are said. Paul is in Rome, and he is awaiting
execution. He doesn’t think that he is
going to escape worldly judgment this time.
As he is on trial for his faith, what does he say? This is the will of God according to the
promise of eternal life.
This is a
true man of God. Anyone can be loyal and
talk well about God when life is going smoothly. But the true test of faith is what happens
when life conspires against them. Does
the person turn to God for strength or does the person turn away from God and
blame Him for the evil in life? Here we
see that even the end of life for Paul is useful for giving praise to God.
Raising Up a Child
As we turn
ahead in the chapter, Paul reminds Timothy of his faithful upbringing. Timothy was trained in the faith by his
mother and his grandmother. We should
not underestimate the power of teaching our young people to know God. Deuteronomy 4:9-10 tells us of the importance
of teaching our children according to the principles of faith. It is through this teaching when they are young
that they have the best chance to grow up faithful to God and genuine
contributors to His kingdom.
Keep Faith Alive
However,
we should also pay attention to how Paul ends this section. Notice that he doesn’t take Timothy’s faith
for granted. Paul does not assume that
just because Timothy has been raised in the faith that he will continue in it
forever. Paul knows the truth of
humanity. If we do not continue to
practice our faith, we may lose it. Just
like every skill we learn, we must continue to practice it to keep it
strong. Thus, Paul tells Timothy to fan
the flame within him.
No Compromise
Paul tells
Timothy to not be ashamed of the Gospel.
We are not to compromise the message of the Gospel with the ways of the
world. It is God who has called us to a
holy calling. When confronted with the
differences between the world and our faith we will have to choose between
suffering and compromise. Comprise leads
to short terms relief; suffering leads to long term joy with God.
Follow
Then Paul
tells Timothy to follow the pattern of sound words that has been laid out from
the beginning. God’s methods may change
with the changing culture around us, but God’s wisdom and His character do not
change. We may need to change our
methods, but we do not need to change our teaching. Jesus is the only way to salvation. Without the shedding of His blood there is no
forgiveness of sin. He will come
again. These truths – and truths like
them – are the teachings to which we need to hold. These truths will help keep us on God’s path.
God’s Deposit in Us
Paul then
reminds Timothy of one of the most important teachings that he could pass
along. Paul reminds Timothy that we have
been entrusted with a great deposit. We
have the faith within us; we have the Holy Spirit to help us guard that
faith. God has come and put something of
Himself within us. We should desire to
guard that for as long as necessary until we come to the full realization of
His promise in the life to come!
The Difficulty of Faith
Paul then
ends this chapter on a sad but necessary reminder. Paul knows that there are those who have once
seemed as though they were faithful but who are really not. There are those who seemed to be pursuing
Christ but who have turned aside to now pursue other things. Paul reminds Timothy just how difficult it is
stay faithful and true to God.
Paul’s
words remind me of one of the scariest chapters in the Bible: Matthew 7. It is in that chapter that we hear how many
people find the wide gate of destruction and only a few people find the narrow
gate of salvation. It is in this chapter
that we hear Jesus speak of those who will come to Him believing that they have
been faithful only to hear Jesus tell them that He never knew them. It is important to understand that even Paul
himself knew the truth of Jesus’ words in his life. This is a sad place to leave this devotion
this day, but perhaps it is especially fitting for Black Friday. It is especially easy to get caught up in
this world and desire the things of this world.
We must be especially careful that while we are in this world we do not
lose are focus and become a part of it.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment