2 Timothy 4:1-8
Frank
Gifford died this past week. He was 84 years old. He played in the NFL for 12
years and later was one of the original announcers on ABC when Monday Night
Football debuted. One of the current ABC news announcers said that “he was a
good man and a good person”. That was his eulogy; his defining moment.
According
to my NIV Study Bible, Paul wrote 2 Timothy after his fourth missionary trip.
At the time he was in prison. This was nothing like the rented house he lived
in the first time he was a prisoner. This was a cold hard dungeon where Paul
was chained like a common criminal.
He
seemed to believe that he was near the end of his life, and with that in mind
gave his own eulogy when he wrote, “6For
I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my
departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
You
get the sense that Paul is looking back on his life and remembering his friends
at all the churches where he ministered: Ephesus, Corinth, Galatia, Philippi, and
others. He is remembering how God has used him in the lives of so many people
for his Lord and Savior.
With
that in mind, he gave Timothy some final instructions. “I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared
in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience
and careful instruction.”
Previous
to this in chapter 3 he also wrote, “16 All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Paul
seems to be preparing Timothy so that when he reaches the end of his life, he
too can say like Paul, “I have fought the
good fight”. Indirectly, Paul is preparing
you and me for the same defining moment.
If we follow Paul’s instructions, then we too can
say with him, “8 Now
there is in store 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 longed for his appearing.”
In
the meantime, let us live life, one day at a time, with faith in Christ so when
we
arrive at that defining moment, we too can say like Paul, “I fought the good fight”.
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