2 Timothy 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, Timothy is one of the unblamed youths of the Bible. He ranks along with Abel, Joseph, Moses, Josiah, and Daniel. I. TIMOTHY'S BOOK. His father was a Greek and a heathen; but his mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois (who lived with them), were Jews and believers. They did their best for the godly upbringing of their bey; and they would be left to do as they liked in the matter. For heathen fathers gave more attention to their young dogs and horses than to their young children. Books were then very scarce and dear, and probably the Old Testament was the only book in their house. They used it well, and found it to be a library in itself, and the best children's treasury. II. TIMOTHY'S HOME. The boy would be strongly tempted to follow his dashing heathen father, whose amusements would be such as boys most delight in; yet he sided with and took after his devout mother and grandmother. That fact speaks volumes for him. I believe that he gladly gave himself up to all the best influences of his home. Thus his mother was his mother thrice over, for she gave life to his mind and to his soul as she had given life to his body. Obedience is only one of the outward signs of the true spirit of a child. A girl once heard a sermon upon this subject. On the way home, feeling uneasy, she said, "Mother, do I always obey you?" "You know best yourself, my dear," the mother replied. "Well. I never disobey you," the girl continued, "I always do what you bid me, but I sometimes go slow." The Bible shows concern chiefly about the kind and spirit of your obedience. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord." The right feeling to parents is so like the right feeling to God that people have used one word for both. The noblest characters are found among those men who in youth yielded most to a mother's influence. You will find many striking proofs of my view in such books as Smiles' "Self-help" and "Character." The reason is soon found. Boys like Timothy unite in their characters what is best in roan and woman. They are rich in spirit beyond others, for Nature gives them manly strength, to which a mother's influence adds tenderness and sweetness. A well-known writer has said, "In my best moments I find again my mother in myself." Usually man is the son of woman in his best gifts. "A kiss from my mother," said West, "made me a painter." To love your mother well, then, is a liberal education of head and heart. III. TIMOTHY'S CONVERSION. Some, like Samuel, ramjet remember a time when they did not trust God. Their love to the Saviour is not an after-love, but a first love. Others, like Timothy, have a well-marked and a well-remembered conversion. Paul calls him "my own son in the faith .... whom I have begotten in the gospel." Often the successful preacher but reaps what the mother had sowed, and watered with her prayers, and brought to the verge of harvest. Timothy must have been a mere boy at the time of his conversion. For he was quite young when he was ordained, and even when Paul wrote his Epistle to him, he was so boyish-looking that people might easily despise his youth. His early conversion was one chief reason why Timothy did so much good, and why he still remains such an inviting example of grace. It made him like Newton, of whom Bishop Burnet says, that he had the whitest soul he ever knew, and was as a very infant in purity of mind. Than youthful piety God has no better gift for you but heaven. (James Wells, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, |
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