Pastor's Column 9/14/2025

PASTOR’S COLUMN

²¹ “Do your best to come here before winter.” 2 Timothy 4:21, NLT                                                                                                                                                                     

“While There Is Time!”

There are four words at the end of a short sentence in a final letter the Apostle Paul wrote to his mentee, Timothy, which are as memorable as they are instructive. The aging mentor, Paul, is being held by officials in Rome and his son in the faith, Timothy, is in Ephesus, a city in today’s Southern Turkey that was about 650 miles from Rome. Paul, the elder, senses his life was near its end, so he wanted Timothy to come and visit him. This may well have been the last request Paul made to Timothy, whose faith development he had helped to shape. Paul was very fond of the younger Timothy and believed in the promise of his younger friend’s generation. After receiving his call to ministry, Paul did not focus on accumulating wealth – his entire life was given to the work he believed Christ had set before him. Paul only wanted Timothy to bring several items that were most important to him. Paul wanted his “winter coat he had left with a friend in another city; the several books he owned; and his papers.” As the wide expanse of life narrows, so will what is most important to us become more obvious. Paul urged Timothy to “come …before winter.” Travel was mostly by sea, and the journey would have taken months for Timothy to reach Rome from Ephesus. It was likely mid or late summer, and if Timothy did not “leave soon” it would have been impossible to travel the frigid and frozen seas in winter. There is perhaps more than navigation advice in Paul’s urging. He likely wanted Timothy to learn something about life. The journey of life cannot be neglected; nor should our tasks be readily put off. Winter, the late time of our days, will come more quickly than we ever could imagine. Days lost or neglected can never be replaced. Wise Solomon said, “Remember [your Creator] before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your  old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky.” (Ecclesiastes 12:2, NLT). Do all you can before winter!