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THE FLAME OF THE GOSPEL
(2 Timothy 1:1-14)
It is easy in the many demands of life to lose sight of your salvation; to drift; and to let the reality of God in your life become a mundane affair of going to church, saying grace before meals, and once in a while some church activity that you take a part in.
We must know however that this is not how it should be. God is not a hobby or a comforting pillow or soft toy. Paul describes the presence of the Holy Spirit in terms of power, love and self-discipline. In describing the Gospel he uses words like saved, called, purpose, even suffering. It is about destroying death, bringing about life and immortality. Paul is passionate about the Gospel for what it has accomplished and he communicates that passion to Timothy with these words: That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
What has Paul entrusted to God? His life and destiny. He is in the hands of his God.
Don’t shortchange yourself with a tepid and timid Gospel. If your faith leaves you cold and inconvenienced it could be that your Gospel is not the real and genuine one and you should look to have the real thing. The other possibility is like Timothy you have allowed other concerns to smother the flame of the Gospel in you.
Whichever the case may be, know that the will of God, the life that is in Jesus Christ, the gift of God, the Holy Spirit: all that pertains to God in your life imparts life, power, love, and yes, suffering and self-discipline; it is a flame that burns, not a set of passionless activities, a badge we wear or a creed we give intellectual assent to.