Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother. Colossians 1:1
Who was the greatest Christian of all time? Was it the apostle John, known as the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who leaned on Jesus’ breast, the man whose writings are filled with references to the love of God? Maybe. Or was it Peter, the magnificent and fiery apostle who, even as a fisherman was filled with zeal for his Lord and who was capable of reaching three thousand converts in a single sermon? Possibly. Maybe it was Luke, the beloved physician, whose faithful recordings have given to us almost one-quarter of our New Testament. A good case can be made that it was the apostle Paul, God’s messenger to the Gentiles and the writer of more than half of the books of the New Testament. Christianity has always had its giants for God, great men whose zeal and ability allowed them to be great leaders and accomplishers. In addition to the apostolic age men, they include many others, such as Martin Luther, who cracked open the kernel that blossomed into the Reformation, and William Tyndale, God’s instrument in bringing the Scriptures to the English speaking world. But none of these men did their great work alone. All had much help, and some had special helpers, such as Mark who wrote for Peter and Miles Coverdale who carried on the translation work after Tyndale’s martyrdom. And, if we look at today’s text, we see a special relationship between Paul and his protege Timothy.
This younger man is identified as Timotheus at least 19 times in the Scriptures. If not a convert of Paul (he came from a Christian home), he was certainly an understudy of the apostle. He spent much time with Paul and was very dear to the old apostle. He was also very valuable to him in many ways, whether in preaching, or in taking messages to other locations, or, as is apparent in today’s text, in writing epistles for the almost-blind apostle. He stands as proof that all of God’s great men need good men and women to support them.
Can any of us today stick our heads up and declare that we are among the elite in God’s service today? Every one of us can look about us and see others who have more outstanding gift and abilities than we do. But that does not make us any less important in God’s program. Those to whom God has given a greater role would be nothing without the companionship, the support, and the assistance of many others to whom God has given what we might consider to be lesser roles. Paul’s letter would never have reached Colosse without Timothy’s willing penmanship. Every great preacher of the Gospel has owed far more to the prayers of those supporting him than to his own preaching abilities. No work of God has ever proceeded without prayers, financial support, long hours of dedicated assistance and many acts of help and encouragement, much of it by saints who have received little recognition or credit for their efforts.
God needs far more Timothys than He does Pauls. Is a Timotheus a role you are willing to play today? -Jim MacIntosh