Dare to be a...Timothy?

 

   Recently I read the story of the Apostle Paul's conversion in Acts. I thought something like Wow, what an awesome testimony Paul had. He was a man who had made it his goal in life to zealously root out the allegedly blasphemous Christians. Then, he was miraculously changed by an encounter with the Lord Jesus on the road to Emmaus. He became possibly the most famous Christian in history, an evangelist and teacher who wrote much of the New Testament.

   My own testimony seems rather dull in comparison to Paul's. I was taught the Bible from day one, accepted Christ at a young age, and continued to mature in him as a child and then a young adult with no major time of turning away. Though I'm grateful for my parents teaching Jesus when I was young, somehow my testimony just doesn't seem as exciting as those of other people whose worlds have been turned upside down by the Lord. If your life story is similar to mine, you probably know exactly what I mean.
   As there often is, those of us with "boring" testimonies can find some to relate to in scripture. Meet Timothy. He enters the scene of the early church in Acts 16:1-3, which says, "Then he [Paul] came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek." Timothy sounds like a nice guy, but maybe a little *cough* boring. Apparently, Paul didn't think that Timothy was too boring to take on the missions trip of a lifetime though, even if his testimony was nothing like being blinded on the road to Emmaus. Later on, we see that Timothy was an authority in the early church, as Paul wrote letters to him.
   So, there must have been something that made Timothy special enough to become Paul's helper. In  II Timothy 1:5, Paul speaks of the genuine faith of Timothy's grandmother Lois, and mother Eunice, that he was convinced was in Timothy also. Faith had apparently been part of his family life, the most treasured heirloom that could ever be passed down. Most likely, Timothy's faithful mother and grandmother had taught him about the things of the Lord for his whole life. II Timothy 3:15 says, " and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." It's hard to know a great deal about Timothy's life from these few verses, but it seems that he was a man who had been well-prepared for the work of preaching the gospel and teaching the saints.
  Later, when Paul writes to Timothy he says "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began," (II Tim. 1:9). Paul made no difference between his salvation and Timothy's. Whether you were saved as a child growing up in church or as an individual with a past life opposed to God, you were a sinner saved by the grace of God. Just read Ephesians 2: 8-9!
  We can take away from this is that God is able use any one He wants for his work; Every believer has the privilege of serving and glorifying Him. Ephesians 2: 10 says that the Lord has ordained good works for us to walk in! He has plenty of things do for each of His children, whether they were saved ate age eight or eighty. Instead of wishing that our stories of salvation were different than they are, let's get to walking in those works! Dare to be a Timothy or a Paul and use your own unique testimony of salvation to help you fulfill your own unique mission.

 

   Thank you to everyone who showed sympathy for my computer situation this week! Thankfully, a friend fixed our laptop and all our files are still there! :D I hope to have an outfit post up next Monday. 'Til then, have a lovely weekend. :)