Do You Like to Have Your Ears Tickled?

In 2 Timothy, Paul is writing to him, (Timothy) and in chapter 4 is encouraging and commissioning him in his ministry. Paul is chained in a cold prison in Rome under the Emperor Nero about 66 or 67 A.D.  Almost 2000 years later it sounds like it was written yesterday.

Tradition say that this is the prison in Rome that Paul was in.

2 Timothy 4

1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, 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. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.  5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.  6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.  7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  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.

1. I find it interesting that Paul is viewing Christ’s appearing and kingdom as emanate.
2. He tells Timothy to preach the Word in season and out of season.  I understand this to be whether it is popular or not.  I think there is also a reference to whether or not you expect fruit.  In talking about the season, depending on the plant, in a certain season you would expect to have fruit.  But Timothy is encouraged to teach in season and out of season.  Notice also that he specifies what to preach; correction, rebuke, and encouragement.  I often am told that we are not to judge others, however it is impossible to talk to someone about correcting there ways without having judged or determined whether they are doing something that needs correction.
3. Verses 3 and 4 sound a lot like today.  People stay away from church in large numbers in part because they think churches are too judgmental or legalistic.  Sure we that are in the church could be better at the sharing in love and teaching “with great patience”, but I believe a lot of people fall in the category of not put up with sound doctrine, wanting to fulfill their own goals.  People will fill large auditoriums to hear a “religious teacher” or “spiritual guide” tell them that some myth or other form of self-fulfillment will make them feel better about their life.
4. We as disciples of Christ on the other-hand are to be in control in all situations, be willing to endure hardships and share the gospel message every chance we get.
5. So what do we get out of all this hard work and suffering?  I think Paul sums it up pretty well in the closing verses of this chapter.  He was in Nero’s cold dark prison in Rome and knew his days were coming to an end.  In verses 6 through 8 he states that his life is being poured out of him.   He knows that it is his time to die.  Paul compares his life to a runner who has finished a race.

I still remember running track in junior high school and even winning some races.   You don’t win races by holding back and taking it easy.  You win races by expending every last bit of energy you have.  Good runner cross the finish line totally exhausted, sometimes even physically sick, because they have given everything they have to finish the best they are able.  Paul does not sound afraid or even sad.  He is confident in his future, looking forward to his day of judgment before the Lord knowing that he has done his best.

How are you doing in the race of life?

Are we fighting the good fight or are we just wanting to have our ears tickled?  If you lay dying today would you say to those at your side; “I have fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith”?  Are you confident to stand before the Lord at the judgment knowing your reward?

These are some really personal questions that only you can answer.   Jesus Christ can give a peace that surpasses anything man can understand.  Peace that allows a man to lay dying in a prison to be happy and free in his spirit.  I am not sure that I have that yet.

Regular Joe

Inspiration for Today

If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, also we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world.  C. S. Lewis (1898 – 1963), Mere Christianity

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