MasterTruth

Crowns and Prizes

If I knew I only had a few weeks to live, decorating my house and staying up with my favorite TV programs probably wouldn't register on my priority radar again.

The apostle Paul came to a point when he knew he didn't have long to live. I read his last writing, 2 Timothy, with curiosity as to what he now thought was most important. There it is, in the last chapter of this final letter to his young disciple, Timothy.

Before I quote it, I find it interesting that his razor-sharp end-of-life focus was the same one he carried throughout his Christian life. It's a godly person who doesn't need to adjust a thing upon realizing he/she isn't long to this life.

He said: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." (2 Tim. 4:7-8)

He worked for a reward, a crown. He saw it years earlier, and aimed for it for the rest of his life.

I know he worked for a future reward for many years, because Paul said in Philippians (written about six years before 2 Timothy): "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil 3:14)

I'm thinking that if Paul was so focused on the prize/crown, maybe I should look further into it. You can too. If you'd like to use some of your daily quiet time to look into this, go over to the right, where it says "Quiet Time Ideas" and look at the first item listed. It gives some verses to look up and some questions to answer.

 

A "Truthful" Thought

I’m reading 2 Timothy in my daily time with God. It’s a book of practicalities, where Paul told Timothy how he (and thus we) are to live, think and act. In chapter 2 verses 19-26, Paul discusses practical righteousness, giving the foundation and the “how to” of it. He sums it up in vs. 25-26: “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

The truth is the all-important element that we use to guide our lives and that we try to communicate to others. It’s what Paul dedicated his life to. He was passing that goal on to Timothy. I think it’s interesting that in the same breath that he talked about getting others to acknowledge the truth, he talked about delivering them from the snare of the devil. It makes sense, because, as you know, there’s no truth in Satan. Everything he speaks is a lie, because he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).

I remember 15 to 20 years ago hearing how our next big battle in Christianity was going to be the philosophy that there’s no absolute truth. You wouldn’t be able to say that anything was true for sure. Truth would all be relative… whatever you think is true is what truth is for you. 

I thought that was absurd. Thinking, rational people know there is absolute truth. But look now. You’re considered ridiculous if you try to pursuade someone that something in particular is the unqualified truth for everyone, no matter what. We decide for ourselves what is truth now. Even churches. I’ve passed a church that coaxed people in with a sign out front that said “no dogmatism here.” Even parents. Many say they are letting their children decide for themselves what to believe.

        Satan has sucked truth out of our culture. So, standing for the truth is unpopular. How do we do it? “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

Jody