1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Encouragement to Be Faithful
3I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
8So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God
Being the opening of the letter there are a couple of things to note here, firstly who is writing this letter, Paul (Look how he describes himself - an apostle of Christ Jesus) by the will of God according to the promise of Christ Jesus.
On this first point we should not be surprised to see Paul saying that it is by God's will that he is an apostle - Let us remember that Paul was living as the infamous Saul before his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. Some people today have dramatic conversion stories, stories which tell what they were before they met Jesus and what they were like after they did. an encounter with the living God. Many would shirk away from using such terminology as they are "just normal", they have gone to church, grown up in sunday school etc etc. But those are just as important. The important thing is that as Christians we understand that we are in a relationship with Jesus and that we are clinging to the promise of Christ Jesus.
Isn't it great how this apostle Paul describes Timothy ... my dear son
One of the things over the last year I have thoroughly appreciated in the chuches which I have been in is the encouragement from rectors and parishioners, their encouragement, their guidance and the love shown. There are some people who have as one of their natural gifts to encourage, to build up and to show concern for people. Paul displays it here as he sends his opening greeting to Timothy.
Remember you Constantly in prayer
One of the things which I am hoping to work on over the next few months as I complete this "sensible" series is constancy in prayer. it is crucial for survival as a christian. There is a book from Bill Hybels entitled "too busy not to pray" and I can think of many times when I have got this one the wrong way round thinking "too busy to pray". Who or what should we be praying for ... well anything / anyone really! - who needs our prayer today?, what circumstances need our prayer?
I am reminded of your sincerce faith
It is amazing the amount of times I, like Paul am reminded of instances of people's faith in certain circumstances, of conversations I have had with people who are inspiring people, people who are normal but express a deep love of the Lord. I wonder is there anyone you know who you have had that sort of thing with?, people who you know have a sincere faith?
fan into flame the gift of God
Discipleship is hard work! I don't know if you have ever tried to light a campfire, when I think about this I am reminded of my old scouting days of trying to light a fire in the middle of the countryside. Sod dug, dry leaves dry kindle then the wind comes. It is difficult but it is possible, you just need to keep working at it, fan the flame... work at it ... this image when you think about it logically the spark, turns into a flame, the flame into a fire which is useful and which is blazing.
Not timidity
At our core, many of us are shy, quiet people not wanting to upset people rather wanting to please and keep all on our side. We are not called to be timid but rather we have through God a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline. This links to what we call the fruit of the spirit
"love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" If this is the "stuff" which God is producing in us then we need to be displaying it in our christian walk. In situations where we feel out of our depth, let us remember that it is not us but Christ working through us.
Do not be ashamed to testify about our lord
I have come across a couple of good friends who live out this verse to its full. People who are not called to be clergy but who are not ashamed to testify about Jesus but who "acknolwedge Him" in everything they do. How am I / you testifying to the Lord today?
A couple of Questions picked from the BST Study notes for you to think about
- What does it really mean to wish someone grace mercy and peace?
- What are the 4 major influences on Timothy's life and are you aware of similar factors on your own?
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