As I read Paul's final farewell, his death sentence letter to Timothy, I am struck by his focus and how intentional his final words are to his "son" in the ministry. His concern is not so much about his life or what he is about to lose, or even those things he is going to miss out on as death and torture approaches. His final thoughts are about his brothers and sisters & their pursuit & devotion to Jesus Christ. Simply put- is Jesus Christ their ONE THING. Paul warns Timothy that there are those in the faith who have purposely gone astray from Christ. There are those in the church who have willfully deserted, abandoned, left, turned back from a pure & simple devotion to Christ. What a legacy to leave right! That has to be a crushing blow in your life when your name has been forever associated with deserting Christ and His church! I mean taking a break, catching your breath, "its just not convenient right now Lord" sounds so much better doesn't it? Deserted sounds so harsh, so disloyal, so treacherous. I mean no believer would ever say that they willingly abandoned or deserted Christ, and yet our lives don't lie. They tell a different story don't they?
As I read Paul’s words to Timothy, I think another passage applies here as well, its found in Revelation 2:4, “… Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” Isn’t that really the issue here with Demas? I mean yea he bailed on Paul but more than that; he bailed on Jesus, he left his first love. He took his foot off the gas; he pushed cruise control spiritually. You see its not that he started to pursue the things of this world- he just stopped pursuing the only thing that mattered-Jesus Christ! As I think about Paul's final words to Timothy this morning ... I am challenged in my own life. I wonder how close I am from "deserting" my first love, my pure and simple devotion to Christ? I wonder what area of my life I’m letting up spiritually? Where am I casually trying to follow Christ in my own life? You see I don’t think desertion & abandonment happens all at once. I just think it happens the moment we stop pursuing the only thing that matters most- our love affair with Jesus Christ! So my question for you this morning is this- What’s your ONE THING!
Not Ashamed….Bill
Posts
