Keeping the Faith

Read 2 Timothy

Do you ever stop to marvel at how your perception changes as you grow older? Like when I was a kid mom would say we are leaving in 15 minutes and I thought it was going to take forever. Or as a child going some where with mom and dad five miles away seemed like a hundreds of miles. Now 15 minutes flies by too fast and everything I do seems like it is spaced out 5 miles away.

One perception that changes the older I get is the reality of the fragility of life. I used to think I was invincible and would live forever. I had to laugh at myself once when I took the youth group to Hinkley ledges, a wonderful park in Hinkley, Ohio. I used to be the one who would run up to the edge of the cliff, jump the spaces and be daring. This particular hike I kept cautioning the teens to “stay back,” “be careful” and “don’t do anything stupid.”

Upon hearing myself say these things, the thought popped into my head, “when did I start sounding like my father?” With age comes wisdom and sensitivity to the reality of life. We start to recognize that our time on earth is limited and short. Hours, days and years start going by faster and faster.

What if you were to find out that within a very short time your life was going to come to an end. Maybe within days or a few weeks, but it was a sure thing. What would you want to do? What would change? What if all you had was a pencil and some paper to write your last words, who would you write to and what would you say?

The Apostle Paul found himself in this very real situation. He was imprisoned in the Mamertine Prison in Rome with a pending death sentence. He knew that within a few short days his life was going to be taken from him. Instead of throwing a pity party for himself, he took pen to paper and wrote one final letter to his son in the faith, Timothy.

The book of 2 Timothy is a special book as it is written with the urgency of a man who has little time left. “Don’t waste your life Timothy” is the essence of Paul’s charge in this book. He writes with such passion and clarity that it speaks to us today, thousands of years later.

Paul’s last words where written from the foundation of the Gospel and build toward a fulfilled life of faith. Paul is not complaining or whining, but challenging and clear. He sees his own life as one that has been lived well for the cause of Christ and says he is ready to “poured out like a drink offering to God.”

Here, this man of God, does not give up but encourages one whom he loves to follow in his footsteps, even if means facing the same end as he does. How is your faith? Would you hold to your beliefs if it meant imprisonment and a beheading? If someone you know and love was facing the death penalty for their faith and told you to do what they did, would you?

There is nothing easy about what Paul says to Timothy and there is no promise of a easy Christian life. Paul doesn’t tell Timothy to just make sure he has all the proper doctrines in place, sit on the right counsels and earn the right degrees. He speaks to him as one who will have to live each day with intentionality. To work hard, focus and live out his faith in face of adversity.

The Christian life is one of patient and deliberate faithfulness each and everyday. It is remembering the cause of Jesus Christ and focusing on His promises. It is about rescuing souls from the fiery pit of hell and celebrating in the grace and mercy of God. It’s about fixing our eyes on the goal, Jesus Christ, and running hard to the finish line.

If I were to write a letter before I die, I’d imagine I would like to share some heartfelt memories with my family, tell my friends what they meant to me, say I love you to those who are close. I’d want to share some thoughts with my youth group and church about the joys of serving them. I would hope that facing that day would help me focus all the more on my Savior and that my letter would have the same urgency and intentionality of Paul’s letter to Timothy.

What adds to Paul’s written letter, something that really makes the words alive, is that Paul lived it out. His letter wasn’t empty prose or flattery. They were tried and proven through an obedient life that was willing to be sacrificed for the cause of which they speak. That’s what I want in that day. I want a life that didn’t just start right and have it’s moments, but that it is a life that is faithful to the very end.