Today's Reading - 2 Timothy 4
Background
This chapter is so powerful and so convicting. It has many nuggets of truth worth chewing.
These are Paul's last words and seldom has anyone packed such meaning into last words.
- Paul admonishes his protege to "preach the word."
- He faces his death with the confidence that he has run a good race and finished well. I want to be able to feel that way!
- He warns the world about modern America. Well, it seems that way, anyway. He warns about the day when people will eschew sound doctrine to listen to teachers who will tell them pleasing truths they want to hear.
- And there is a mention of Mark as a man who was valuable to Paul, quite a change considering that this was the man whom Barnabas and Paul divided over in Acts 15.
These are Paul's last words and seldom has anyone packed such meaning into last words.
Devotional - All's Well that Ends Well
The noose was tightening and Paul knew it. It is generally believed that 2 Timothy is the last of Paul's letters, written not long before he was put to death by the Emperor of Rome. These are Paul's last words, and powerful words they are. The section we read today is a series of greetings and our tendency might be to simply pass over these as we move on to more "important" passages with didactic focus. But if you understand the dynamics of what is said here, there are some powerful lessons that we can take away.
1. It's not how you start, it's how you finish.
Two names are mentioned here - one a sad story and one a triumph of redemption. Verse 10 tells the story of Demas who was one of Paul's young assistants. As time went on and the going got rough, Demas lost his "first love" for Jesus and fell back in love with this present world. John makes in clear in 1 John 2 that you can't both love God and love the world. Demas is example #1 of this. Loving the world he abandoned Paul in his need. We don't know much about the future of Demas' life, but it is a sad commentary.
On the other hand, verse 11 mentions Mark who is "useful" to Paul. In the last days of his life only Luke, the writer of the Gospel and the book of Acts is with him, but he wants to see Mark. This is quite a turnaround because back in Acts 15 he came into sharp dispute with Barnabas over this same man. But John Mark turned it around and got things straightened out. The momma's boy who ran crying home is now so useful to Paul that in his last moments on earth his desire was to see him one more time. Permit me to draw two more principles from that.
2. Keep stoking the flame.
Just because you are loving and serving Jesus today is no guarantee you always will. We must continue to seek him and fan the flames of our passion for Christ. Demas let that love fade and found his love for the world renewed.
3. When you fail, don't quit.
Mark blew it...bad. He messed up so bad that Paul didn't want anything to do with him and the partnership between Paul and Barnabas broke up. But he didn't quit and eventually God worked in him and he became a man useful to Paul - a key ally in his ministry - trusted, significant, and loved. When you fail, the worst thing to do is to quit. Jesus is in the business of restoration, renovation, and renewal.
4. In life, it's all about the people along the way.
Paul's last thoughts were not about grand ideas but about the people he worked with along the way - friends, fellow-laborers in the cause of Christ. One of the most remarkable things about Paul was how he trained the next generation of leaders in the church as he walked through his ministry. Don't get so wrapped up in the busy-ness of life that you forget that the highest priority is people.
1. It's not how you start, it's how you finish.
Two names are mentioned here - one a sad story and one a triumph of redemption. Verse 10 tells the story of Demas who was one of Paul's young assistants. As time went on and the going got rough, Demas lost his "first love" for Jesus and fell back in love with this present world. John makes in clear in 1 John 2 that you can't both love God and love the world. Demas is example #1 of this. Loving the world he abandoned Paul in his need. We don't know much about the future of Demas' life, but it is a sad commentary.
On the other hand, verse 11 mentions Mark who is "useful" to Paul. In the last days of his life only Luke, the writer of the Gospel and the book of Acts is with him, but he wants to see Mark. This is quite a turnaround because back in Acts 15 he came into sharp dispute with Barnabas over this same man. But John Mark turned it around and got things straightened out. The momma's boy who ran crying home is now so useful to Paul that in his last moments on earth his desire was to see him one more time. Permit me to draw two more principles from that.
2. Keep stoking the flame.
Just because you are loving and serving Jesus today is no guarantee you always will. We must continue to seek him and fan the flames of our passion for Christ. Demas let that love fade and found his love for the world renewed.
3. When you fail, don't quit.
Mark blew it...bad. He messed up so bad that Paul didn't want anything to do with him and the partnership between Paul and Barnabas broke up. But he didn't quit and eventually God worked in him and he became a man useful to Paul - a key ally in his ministry - trusted, significant, and loved. When you fail, the worst thing to do is to quit. Jesus is in the business of restoration, renovation, and renewal.
4. In life, it's all about the people along the way.
Paul's last thoughts were not about grand ideas but about the people he worked with along the way - friends, fellow-laborers in the cause of Christ. One of the most remarkable things about Paul was how he trained the next generation of leaders in the church as he walked through his ministry. Don't get so wrapped up in the busy-ness of life that you forget that the highest priority is people.
Father, thank you for your grace and for those you have put in my life along the way. May my priorities be your prirorities.
Think and Pray
How do you handle your failings? Do you give up or do you seek forgiveness and go forward in God's grace?
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