Tuesday 2nd January
Read 2 Timothy 1:1-5
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” (NIVUK)
Most of Paul’s letters begin with a variation on this theme, emphasising that he is an apostle by God’s will. Beginning with Galatians and ending with 2 Timothy, it is part of who he is. The second part of the greeting is rather poignant. For Paul is chained up and awaiting death yet continues, even from the depths of a dungeon, to declare his calling and proclaim the ‘promise of life’ found in Jesus. Amidst death and seeming hopelessness this promise of life is clung to ferociously.
How would you explain to someone what the promise of life entails? Would it be a story of resurrection hope? Would it begin with the tree of life in the garden to the water of life in the New Jerusalem? Would it be about life to the full? Spend time today pondering the ‘promise of life’.
