Can you imagine Timothy’s reactions when a messenger handed him the letter scroll from the great apostle Paul? The apostle had been like a father to him. They had traveled together, faced hardship together, celebrated spiritual victories together.
Now Paul was in a Roman prison on trial for his life. Timothy must have thought the letter was like the final words of a dying man. His heart must have raced when he read near the end of the letter his father-in-the-faith’s plea to “do your best to come to me quickly” and asked him to “bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas.”
Perhaps Timothy received the letter with trembling hands reflecting the sadness in his heart for one who he loved deeply. Perhaps he eagerly tore into the letter’s binds so he could read the latest news about this special friend.
Doubtless Timothy’s eyes fell on those opening words “To Timothy, my dear son.” His heart must have swelled as he read of Paul’s conviction that the “sincere faith” of his family “now lives in you” and urged him to “fan into flame the gift of God which is in you.”
The letter of 2 Timothy is filled with encouragement and instruction and warning — all designed to help the younger pastor be “thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Still the apostle acknowledged “But you know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecution, sufferings.” Being traveling companions and co-workers for years has a way of providing those insights.
Learning from Paul
When Timothy read “continue in what you have learned and what you have become convinced of because you know those from whom you learned it,” what images came to his mind? Did he think of persecution in Thessalonica or times of spiritual responsiveness in Berea? Did he think of the church fight in Corinth or reflect on those winter months he and Paul spent together when the letter to the Romans was composed?
Paul had to be among the first to which the young man’s mind turned when he read “because you know those from whom you learned it.” From Paul he had learned more than the truth that Jesus is Lord. Timothy had learned the implication of the full apostolic gospel. He had learned to endure hardship and suffering. Boldness in the faith had been imparted. That boldness would one day result in his martyrdom but that was still in the future.
Committed to the good news
Years of working together, of hearing the apostle’s powerful sermons, of being a part of regular teaching in the synagogues had helped form in him a commitment to the good news that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.”
Others must have come to mind as well. Chief among them were his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. Even the apostle Paul mentioned them when he wrote of the “sincere faith which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice.”
How these two women came to faith in Jesus Christ is not known. Eunice is introduced in Acts 16:1 as “a Jewess and a believer.” Evidently Timothy’s Greek father was not a believer. Being in a mixed marriage did not stop the women from teaching young Timothy the sacred writings from infancy.
Timothy learned of God’s love, of a promised Messiah, of God’s expectations for holiness in daily living. Eventually Timothy learned Jesus was the longed-for Messiah. It was through the study of the sacred writings that Timothy was led to faith in Jesus Christ.
By the time he was a teen, Timothy’s commitment to Christ was well known as far away as Iconium, a full day’s journey from his home in Lystra. But that reputation would not have been possible without the foundation laid by Lois and Eunice from his earliest days.
There must have been others whose faces flashed across his mind as Timothy thought about those who helped shape him into the man who would become the first bishop of Ephesus. Formal instruction was the tool used by some. Others kindled his mind through a sermon, a conversation, a lifestyle. It is amazing how God uses so many people to stimulate interest and speed understanding of the great things of God.
Who comes to your mind when the Bible tells you to “continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of because you know those from whom you learned it?”
For me one of the first is a Sunday School teacher who regularly made sure all of us fifth and sixth graders mastered our weekly memory verse. I can still see the gold stars pasted on the chart beside the name of each one who could say the week’s memory verse. These many years later I still remember most of them.
I remember a pastor who had only completed one year of college. He spent hours in the church office studying and preparing his sermons so he could “rightly divide the word of truth.” I remember a First Baptist Church pastor who expanded my understandings and horizons with his kind, gentle proddings.
I remember college teachers and seminary professors, mentors and co-workers God used to teach and train me in the sacred Scriptures and the work of the Church. Like Timothy, I am a part of all those who influenced me through the years.
Lois and Eunice surely were pleased when they learned the apostle Paul wanted Timothy to join his missionary band. They certainly had a sense of parental pride as they watched the group fade from sight as they left Lystra for their next missionary destination.
Thoroughly equipped
Perhaps like Paul as he penned the letter we call 2 Timothy, Lois and Eunice had a deep feeling of satisfaction that they had accomplished their goal. Timothy was thoroughly equipped for whatever lay before him.
Timothy was not a self-made man. None of us are. All are indebted to those who have invested in us — those who have taught us the sacred Scriptures, who have prayed for us, corrected us, trained us and equipped us for God’s service.
As God brings to mind those from whom you learned the great truths of God, give thanks for them. If possible, why not give thanks to them? It might help them know their labor was not in vain.
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