All in Discipleship
Correct, rebuke, encourage; challenge, warn, urge (MSG). Paul ends his passionate charge to Timothy by drilling down on teaching what God has to say, not on what man wants to hear—correcting/challenging false impressions, rebuking/warning against wrong actions, encouraging/coming alongside to urge others on to do all things for the glory of God. Man has such a tendency to twist the truth of the Word.
What a story Paul had. Certainly he had many opportunities to tell it—in prison in Jerusalem (Acts 21-23), in Caesarea (Acts 23-26), in Rome as he writes this letter to Timothy—and he never failed to rise to the occasion.
You cannot preach the Word, proclaim the Message, tell your story with God, unless you are prepared to do so. In fact preparation is the key to living, anyway you look at it. If you are going on a mountain hike you lace up your sturdy shoes, pack some water, grab your hiking stick, put on your sunscreen, check on the weather—you prepare as best you can.
Last page, last letter—the time has come. Paul gives his protégé, Timothy, a stirring charge. At the beginning of this letter he told him that he, Paul, was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher of the gospel (2 Timothy 1:11). Now he places his ministry of the gospel in Timothy’s hands. In effect, he endows his son in the faith with his legacy. He solemnly offers to Timothy, before God, what is tantamount to a binding oath. The Message translation is pretty onerous: I can’t impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder.
The time has come for Paul to sign off on this his final letter. The race has been tough; but through it all he can humbly say, I have kept the faith. The finish line is in sight.
Have you ever ice-skated ladies? Could you now? I had a rude awakening a couple of years ago when my grandsons persuaded me to join the family free-skate time the winter they played hockey. Confident I could glide around the rink with grace, I laced up my boots and stepped onto the ice. After all, I was on skates at the age of three; but neither glide nor grace were to be. Luckily I did get around the rink, hugging the boards.
All dressed up in your virtues? Looking for the perfect place to go to shower love on everyone? Look no further than your daily routines. Wherever you go, you live worthy of the Lord by working at whatever you do with all your heart. Now isn’t that just too simple?
Yesterday Paul left me contemplating the vice grip of self and the need to put to death—to mortify—my earthly nature. And today, his solution—change my wardrobe? Hmm.
