Paul was a spiritual father to Timothy. And in the books of 1 and 2 Timothy, he gives him deep pastoral wisdom, guidance, and practical instruction.
Timothy was a pastor in Ephesus, an important economic and cultural center of the day. And he needed encouragement to weed out bad doctrine and remain focused on his purpose as a young pastor.
Paul wrote to Timothy:
Imagine learning that you will die tomorrow.
If you knew this, how would you spend your last night on earth? You have a brand new year stretched out before you, but you only get today.
…who would you gather around yourself?
…what would you spend your time doing?
…what would you be thinking about?
This may sound morbid, and even farfetched, but this is exactly the situation Jesus was in in today’s devotional verse:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 ESV
The “Word” John writes about is three things:
Later in John 1, we discover that this “Word” also “became flesh and dwelt among us…the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
This Word is none other than Jesus himself. But isn’t that a funny way to introduce Jesus, as the “Word”?
Why would God be described this way?