by Edwin Crozier<\/p>\n
Text: II Timothy 4<\/p>\n
Paul concludes his letter with a series of requests connected with “Do your best to come to me soon<\/em>.” Paul knows his time is limited, but he doesn’t know the exact day he will depart. “Come soon, Timothy,” Paul tells him, and he tells him about the other workers. Some have departed, in love with the present world. Paul has sent some on assignment. Paul wants Timothy to bring Mark.<\/p>\n But one statement stands out. It’s easy to understand why Paul wants Timothy and Mark to come. He wants support. He also wants to give some final face-to-face encouragement. The need for the cloak is obvious. Winter is coming, and he’ll need some protection from the elements. The Roman soldiers won’t give him any.<\/p>\n Then he asks for something odd-“also the books, and above all the parchments<\/em>.” What? Why on earth would he need books? He’s about to die. Hasn’t he done enough reading and learning?<\/p>\n Apparently not.<\/p>\n What an incredible example Paul sets. He is in prison. He is going to be executed. He isn’t going to get out and do more traveling work. His next stop is the heavenly kingdom itself. But what does he want to do? He wants to keep reading and rereading. He wants to learn and remember.<\/p>\n I want to be like that. I hope that even when I know death is knocking on my door, I’ll want to keep growing. I want to keep learning. I fear I’ll just want to watch TV. But Paul sets the example for me.<\/p>\n Bring the books. Let me read. Let me learn. To the very end.<\/p>\n Of course, if I want that kind of commitment in my final days, I need that kind of commitment in my present days. Do I want to learn now? Do I want to be reminded now? Do I want to grow now? Or am I satisfied?<\/p>\n How about you?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Edwin Crozier Text: II Timothy 4 Paul concludes his letter with a series of requests connected with “Do your best to come to me soon.” Paul knows his time is limited, but he doesn’t know the exact day he will depart. “Come soon, Timothy,” Paul tells him, and he tells him about the other…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1232,482],"class_list":["post-97696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-books","tag-learning"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44363,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-titus-desert-paul\/","url_meta":{"origin":97696,"position":0},"title":"Did Titus desert Paul?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I hope this finds you doing well. I just wanted to let you know that I love your site. It helps me a lot in my studies of God's Word. I heard a radio minister say that Titus deserted Paul. He used II Timothy 4:9-11 as his proof\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63239,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pauls-imprisonment\/","url_meta":{"origin":97696,"position":1},"title":"Paul’s Imprisonment","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 2:17-30 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We all have a tendency to make assumptions about what does not appear \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Those assumptions help us to organize what we do know \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We do this whether we are trying to determine why someone walked by without saying \u201cHi!\u201d or when we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51921,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-last-years-of-pauls-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":97696,"position":2},"title":"The Last Years of Paul’s Life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 2:17-30 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul had written the Roman brethren that he would like to go to Spain after seeing them - Romans 15:23-25, 28 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Things didn\u2019t go quite as Paul planned. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After going to Jerusalem, he was arrested, but he did go to Rome \u2013\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6914,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-paul-say-he-left-titus-in-crete\/","url_meta":{"origin":97696,"position":3},"title":"Why did Paul say he left Titus in Crete?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just discovered your website after searching the Internet for \u201cPaul\u2019s letter to the Laodiceans\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Your explanation\u00a0is very interesting and has merit.\u00a0 Thank you for providing answers to so many questions that arise from time to time. Now that I think about it, I have a question:\u00a0 How do you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68758,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pauls-letters-to-preachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":97696,"position":4},"title":"Paul’s Letters to Preachers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Keith Sharp In denominational commentaries, the apostle Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus are grouped together as \"The Pastoral Epistles.\" The term \"pastor\" is found only once in the New Testament, in Ephesians 4:11 (KJV, NKJV, ASV, NASV). The word is translated as \"shepherds\" in the ESV. It is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":97457,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gentle-not-quarrelsome\/","url_meta":{"origin":97696,"position":5},"title":"Gentle, Not Quarrelsome","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier Text: II Timothy 2 I find it a bit humorous. When Paul tells Timothy he is given a spirit of power instead of fear and tells him to fan his gift into flame, many people conclude, \"Timothy must have been a timid, cowardly fellow.\" However, I've yet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97696\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}