There is no time off in Christ Jesus. We rest from the works of our flesh, but we don’t rest from the Lord’s work. It’s His work. He never sleeps. We don’t go on vacation and indulge our flesh. We go on vacation and take extra time in prayer and in the Bible. We take advantage of opportunities to share our faith.

You don’t have to go on a mission trip to serve God. Just make yourself available to Him and He can use you even when you don’t realize it.

We have different callings in Christ. Timothy was to preach the Word, to evangelize. Your job may be to help or show mercy. Of course, we’re all to be doing all those things when the Lord puts the opportunity right in front of us, but there are things that He especially uses us in.

We take advantage of the opportunities the Lord gives us to love others because the time is short.

We live in the last days described here by Paul when he says that people will accumulate teachers for themselves to suit their own passions.

One of the hard things about being a Christian in America is that you can generally find a church that teaches whatever you want to hear. You can find teachers online supporting your viewpoint. There are tons of “truths” out there. And tons of people saying why all the other people are wrong and they are right.

We need to know God’s Word for ourselves so we can identify truth. God’s Word is our surest way to know the real Jesus.

Paul knows that he is going to die soon. This letter is probably written near the end of his life. He knows that he has kept the faith. He has run well. He knows there is a crown of righteousness waiting for him.

He describes himself as having loved Christ’s appearing. Christ coming in the flesh is our salvation. He had to come to live to die to live again to give us life. Love Jesus.