Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

1 Timothy 6:11, 12

Followers of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ must flee some things and pursue others.  At times we just have to let things go.  Maybe good things like wanting to be admired or needed or praised, or to be successful. We can be drawn by the allure of these things.  In fact, it is natural to do so.  But there is a better way.

It is to pursue other goals, not our own, but those set before us by the Lord Jesus himself. Paul lists them.

Righteousness.  The Holy Spirit will discern for us what is right and what is wrong.  We should do what is right.

Godliness.  Above all things, please God.  

Faith.  Believe what is true, not what this world sets before mankind what is true, but what God says.

Love.  Be motivated by love, real heart-felt love, a love that accepts others in the name of Christ.

Patience.  Life with others can stretch us to love, therefore we need to have the patience of the Holy Spirit.

Meekness.  As followers of Jesus, we realize that we have been called into a new family, members of a new kingdom, the Kingdom of heaven. We enjoy citizenship in this new kingdom as a huge gift, a gift from God.  As we enjoy this grace and mercy we take no pride in our achievements, but rejoice in being accepted in the fellowship of those who love Jesus.

We are all “Timothys” who rejoice in God’s mercy and who extend that same mercy to all.

Our roses are pushing leaves just now, eager to catch the rays of the sun and develop into productive rose plants. In that surge of life, I see that aphids are right there, ready to be herded up these stalks by ants.  I was amazed yesterday to see this intense activity.  I loved the contrast between the bright green aphids and the reddish growth of new rose leaves. I stand amazed once again by the exuberance of life.  I never noticed aphids on new rose leaves before.  At least, they never caught my attention, until now.  I am truly blessed.

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.   I Timothy 6:11

I put myself in young Timothy’s shoes.  Who is he?  What right does he have to his calling?  He probably thought that he was fortunate to be in Paul’s little missionary band. He did not have a clean Jewish pedigree like Paul or the other Apostles.  We already noted that his father was Greek, and his mother Jewish. He was born and raised, not in the Holy Land, but in Turkey.  He did not have an illustrious academic career like Paul nor was he a driven person like Paul.  There are many indications that Timothy was well aware of his deficiencies.

In light of all this, I find it astounding that Paul addresses him as a “man of God.”  He is God’s man. Not Paul’s. He stands in his own right as a true follower of Jesus Christ.  In the heat of the battle he has come of age!

I am amazed as I consider all this.  I gather that people who have committed their lives to Jesus and who seek to follow Him wherever he leads, are, whether they know it or not, spiritual brothers and sisters.  It is simple, we are in the family of faith by grace and we have a new set of brothers and sisters, people like we are.  That does not mean that we are equal in all things, it means that we are guided by the same star, our saving and keeping Lord Jesus.  We make up a new family of faith, pulled incessantly by the uniting power of the Holy Spirit. This is not easy because our cultures frown on such.  But we who are in this new family of Christ’s love revel in the miracle that binds us as one regardless of class, race or history.  Is this not a miracle of divine grace?  I know it is.

As we look out the kitchen window we see the white, fragrant lilacs blooming and the rushes pushing up in the water.  Unseen in this picture are the couple dozen goldfish all prepared for their Spring frolics.  The maple tree is heavy with winged seeds, a bit reddish, soon to be caught up and spread by the May winds. A truly delightful spot.

Command and teach these things.  Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.  I Timothy 4:11, 12

Speaking of being young, I relate to that.  Timothy was probably 20 years younger than Paul. One usually thinks that a person who is older is wiser. That may or may not be the truth.  But this is how it was between Paul and Timothy.

Paul had a word of encouragement for Timothy, his young fellow missionary, Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young.  I like the way Paul puts this.  He knew that we have no control over what people think of us but we should not let what people say to be our sure guide.  People did not give us our spiritual vocation, the Lord did.

This is one of the things I struggled with in my own life.  Struggle is probably not the best word but as I look back, I always wanted to be older and wiser.  The truth of the matter is that I was the last of a row of five boys, followed by two sisters. I turned five years old in July.  For some reason my parents sent me off to first grade that September. I finished first grade at age 5 and try as I could, I could never catch my class mate, for I was always one year behind!  That is how I felt, as I look back, for the rest of my life. I graduated from High School when I was 16.  Before I was 21 I had already taught two years of school in Kentucky. Always the youngest it seemed, in this case the youngest teacher. I just turned 21 when I married dear Anna Ruth who was a year and three months older that I was.  I always had to catch up, it seems.

Fast forward to when I was chosen to be Bishop of the Tanzanian Mennonite Church when I was but 34 years old!  Always too young!  That was my story, too young for what I was destined to do.

I am now 87, still too young!  That may be one reason I pled with the Lord for wisdom beyond my years and I am pleased to acknowledge that God answered that prayer through my life, until today. To Him be the glory.

Anna Ruth has the marvelous gift of bread making.  I can not remember buying bread these many days.  Anna Ruth keeps us supplied with wholesome whole wheat bread, made with hands that know how to love and to care for others, like me, of course.  She serves her bread with butter (the real kind), with honey, marmalade, jam and jellies.  Stop in for some!

Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.  1 Timothy 2:8

I find this word of Paul to Timothy to be a helpful and wise word for me today.

“I want men everywhere to pray.”  As we pray we admit our insufficiency, our need, our vulnerability.  We do not command God in prayer to get busy and do what pleases me. No. Prayer is placing one’s self in the hands of a loving, forgiving and blessing Father.  Of course, prayer includes requests.  We are encouraged to express our needs as we see them. But we are not dictators, we are suppliants, beggars, so to speak.

A true follower of Jesus lives, constantly, in this attitude of prayer.  He or she does not live a life of prayer one moment and then a life of no prayer. All of life, in all its circumstances, is to be lived in the attitude of humble, thankful, trustful prayer.

This is a cure for struggling against one another.  Were we to live as unworthy supplicants we would not be so quick to judge others or become upset by what others think.  A praying heart is by definition a forgiving heart. Recall Jesus’ prayer, “Forgive me as I forgive others.”  This deflates the swelled pride, for who among us does not need forgiveness, daily?  I find my daily interaction with my dear wife, Anna Ruth, reveals attitudes in me that are not like Jesus. I need daily cleansing.

“Without anger or disputing.”  Both anger and disputing are built into us as human beings.  By retaining anger, we place ourselves above the other and by disputing we acknowledge our determination to be right!  Some anger and disputing probably have their place but must be under the cleansing blood of Jesus and the leading of the non-contentious Holy Spirit of God.  I find I must repent of lofty attitudes quite often, attitudes unlike holy hands, lifted up, but pointing fingers condemning others. Will I ever learn?

Paul, your instruction to Timothy is appropriate for us all.  Thank you.

This is a left-over, I presume, of what was planted, now growing in our little woods, roaring to life with luxuriant blooms.  I see an insect is getting something – about 2 o’clock in the picture.

And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.  1 Timothy 2:7

Timothy’s father was a Gentile, his grandfather on that side a Gentile also, so Timothy is by blood a mixture of Jew and Gentile, even though his faith line is decidedly Jewish, through his Jewish mother and grandmother.  Remember, this is Turkey, not Palestine!

Even though that should be noted, Paul did not dwell on it. He did, however declare that he, a ritually pure Jewish Pharisee, also born in Turkey, was called by Jesus Christ to preach the Gospel of salvation to Gentiles. I note that in the three cases in which we read of Paul’s conversion in the New Testament each emphasizes this calling – to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ among the Gentiles. This must have impressed Timothy for he had Gentile “blood” through his father and grandfather.  And he was born and raised in Gentile territory.

Having said that, Paul always sought out Jews first wherever he went to invite them to receive Jesus Christ.  However, his basic calling was to the Gentiles, a quite amazing calling for a person who was raised to despise Gentiles and whose early life was given to harming Gentile believers. God is a God of wonders.

So, Paul stood beside young Timothy, a Jew/Greek, as his partner in bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles also.  Paul is sending Timothy back into Ephesus where there was a thriving church made up of both Jews and Gentiles. Timothy related well to each community of faith. And so the Gospel spread throughout Turkey and Europe, exemplified by the joint ministry of Paul and Timothy, the recipient of this amazing letter.

Beside our house is a small woods.  I suppose long ago people planted things there because this beauty just appeared, a nice surprise!  I call it Blue Bells.  Spring is full of the unexpected.  By the way, the house wrens are back and choosing their nesting sites. And the robins are sitting on eggs.