2 Timothy 4:6-8 says,...
Today's verses are 2 Timothy 4:6-8, which read,
v.6 - For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
These are hard words to read and probably very hard for Timothy to see on the page. The drink offering was the final offering given after the burnt and grain offerings in the Jewish sacrificial system. Paul has given all of himself and is near the end of this life of sacrifice for his Savior, Jesus Christ. The departure has overtones of loosening the ropes that hold a boat to the dock. You release those ropes to go on a departure out into the water and Paul is seeing the release of those ropes that are holding him to this world to head to the next one. These truly are some of his last loving words to his beloved spiritual son in Timothy.
v.7, 8 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Paul gives a triad of verbs to show finality in what he was set out to do for he had fought and he had finished and he had kept. These are all word pictures that Paul has used previously to encourage Timothy to keep them faith. He was a good soldier for Christ, keeping his post and defending the gospel. He was a good athlete, training and abiding by the rules given by God. He was a hard-working farmer looking for the harvest while he was keeping to the garden of souls that God had put before him.
Paul tells Timothy of what is ahead of him and it is that which is found in Scripture. The knowledge that Paul is giving about the hereafter is not his own but from the Word of God. A crown is awaiting him and any other saint of God. The crown of righteousness is only possible not because of what Paul has done but because of what Jesus has done, through the cross, who is the Lord, the righteous Judge, who will give it to Paul. Paul receives the crown because Jesus is his Lord and because Jesus is the only one just to be able to award it to him. We typically think of a crown as something with jewels and very valuable sitting on a red velvet pillow when not in use but a crown to them was a wreath of greenery awarded to the winner that had more significance to who was placing it on your head rather than the item itself.
Paul informs Timothy that what he is heading toward is not just for him but for all who love the Lord's return. Do you love the Lord's return? Are you living your life in relationship to His coming again? Does that change your language? Does that change your worship? Does that change your activities? Does that change your conversations? When we have Jesus' return before us, which we do not know when it will be, we live our lives in light of it to glorify Him. What matters to Him matters to us. We do the things He tells us to do. We look at the end of life as a step right into His arms. It is a life full of adventure that He has prepared for us to go through so we can see Him all the more. Let's pray.
"Lord, I confess that there are days and maybe weeks that I am not focused in on Your return. There are conversations and situations that would have been very different if I would have been focused on heaven rather than my personal comfort level. Help us to see our lives as those living sacrifices that Paul speaks of right down to the final sacrifice and the releasing of the ropes to un-tether from this world's dock and head to the next. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.6 - For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
These are hard words to read and probably very hard for Timothy to see on the page. The drink offering was the final offering given after the burnt and grain offerings in the Jewish sacrificial system. Paul has given all of himself and is near the end of this life of sacrifice for his Savior, Jesus Christ. The departure has overtones of loosening the ropes that hold a boat to the dock. You release those ropes to go on a departure out into the water and Paul is seeing the release of those ropes that are holding him to this world to head to the next one. These truly are some of his last loving words to his beloved spiritual son in Timothy.
v.7, 8 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Paul gives a triad of verbs to show finality in what he was set out to do for he had fought and he had finished and he had kept. These are all word pictures that Paul has used previously to encourage Timothy to keep them faith. He was a good soldier for Christ, keeping his post and defending the gospel. He was a good athlete, training and abiding by the rules given by God. He was a hard-working farmer looking for the harvest while he was keeping to the garden of souls that God had put before him.
Paul tells Timothy of what is ahead of him and it is that which is found in Scripture. The knowledge that Paul is giving about the hereafter is not his own but from the Word of God. A crown is awaiting him and any other saint of God. The crown of righteousness is only possible not because of what Paul has done but because of what Jesus has done, through the cross, who is the Lord, the righteous Judge, who will give it to Paul. Paul receives the crown because Jesus is his Lord and because Jesus is the only one just to be able to award it to him. We typically think of a crown as something with jewels and very valuable sitting on a red velvet pillow when not in use but a crown to them was a wreath of greenery awarded to the winner that had more significance to who was placing it on your head rather than the item itself.
Paul informs Timothy that what he is heading toward is not just for him but for all who love the Lord's return. Do you love the Lord's return? Are you living your life in relationship to His coming again? Does that change your language? Does that change your worship? Does that change your activities? Does that change your conversations? When we have Jesus' return before us, which we do not know when it will be, we live our lives in light of it to glorify Him. What matters to Him matters to us. We do the things He tells us to do. We look at the end of life as a step right into His arms. It is a life full of adventure that He has prepared for us to go through so we can see Him all the more. Let's pray.
"Lord, I confess that there are days and maybe weeks that I am not focused in on Your return. There are conversations and situations that would have been very different if I would have been focused on heaven rather than my personal comfort level. Help us to see our lives as those living sacrifices that Paul speaks of right down to the final sacrifice and the releasing of the ropes to un-tether from this world's dock and head to the next. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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