PURSUING
Read 2 Timothy 2:9-10.
In today’s verse, as is typical of Paul, he begins by saying one thing, and then drifts into another thought as if moved by his earlier remarks. Here Paul is moved by his mention of the gospel in v. 8 and his present condition. He has suffered much for the gospel, and it seems that he can’t get this out of his mind. Three times previously he has mentioned suffering: 1:8; 1:12; 2:3, and now a fourth time. The proclamation of the gospel has made Paul’s life difficult to say the least.
Paul could have avoided it all if he had simply stopped sharing the gospel. But he was an evangelist – it was in his blood. Failure to carry out the call of God on his life was not an option. And so even though he may have been in prison, the gospel would not be silenced. Nothing could imprison the gospel and silence its proclamation. No matter where Paul was, the message would go forth. They could imprison the man, but they couldn’t imprison his determination to spread the Word.
Why did he endure such hardship? He did it for the sake of others. Paul didn’t endure the pain of suffering for his own sake, but for the sake of the lost. Is that not love to suffer for others? Is that not love that a man sit chained in jail, unjustly treated as a criminal for the sake of saving the lost? Is not Paul a living example of Christ’s own unjust treatment and death for the sake of others?
To consider: To what length did someone go for you to hear and believe the gospel? How have you suffered to share the gospel with the lost?
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Questions for Home Groups
1) To what length did someone go for you to hear and believe the gospel?
2) How have you seen people go to great lengths here (in the States) to share the gospel with the lost?