As I
prepared to preach a series of lessons from 2 Timothy, I asked
myself, “What do
we know about Timothy?” The
answer
surprised me.
How
old
was he when he worked in Ephesus?
How
tall was he? What colour
was his hair? Did he have
a good sense of humour? Was
he good looking? What was
his favourite food?
The
answer to each of those questions is, “I don’t know!”. We are not told those things. What do we know about him
then?
We
know
that his father was a Greek and likely an unbeliever (Acts 16:1),
while both
his grandmother and mother were faithful to the Lord (2 Timothy
1:5).
We
know
that when he met the apostle Paul in his hometown of Lystra, the
church there
bragged so much about Timothy that Paul decided to take him on his
trip to
visit other churches (Acts 16:2-4).
We
know
that he spent time with the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:17)
and that he
was left in Ephesus to help organize that young congregation (1
Timothy 1:3).
We
know
that Timothy worked alongside Silas (1 Thessalonians 1:1) and that
he became so
close to the apostle Paul that he referred to Timothy as, “My true
son in the
faith” (1 Timothy 1:2).
Lastly,
we know that Timothy was, “faithful in the Lord” (1 Corinthians
4:17).
What
do
you notice about that list?
Timothy’s
entire story is defined by relationships!
Donald
Miller once said, “Relationships are a greater predictor of who we
will become
than exercise, diet or media consumption”.
We know this to be true in a negative sense. 1 Corinthians 15:33 reminds
us that, “Bad
company corrupts good character”.
However, Timothy’s life proves that relationships can be a
powerful tool
for good as well. Relationships
are
opportunities!
Therefore,
I need to keep relationships at the top of my priority list. It is too easy to sit at home
and do
nothing. It is tempting to
think that I
do not need anyone else and that they do not need me. We need to resist that
thinking!
In
truth, investing in others helps both them and me.
As
Proverbs 11:25 states, “He who refreshes others refreshes
himself!”
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