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I loved my Grandma Ollie.
Though I wasn’t hers by birth, Grandma loved me like her own. She taught me to cross-stitch, played funny finger games with me, and gave me her traditional 16 sugar cubes, beautifully boxed and wrapped in a lovely ribbon on my sweet 16th birthday. I remember her warm heart of hospitality and how she had a magical way of turning a mere coffee date into a celebration, complete with festive napkins and dainties. Always dainties.
She had the best giggle and a fantastic sense of humor. Children and adults alike flocked to her, enjoying her grace-filled company.
Grandma adored “palling around” with her one and only daughter. She loved her grandchildren including me as a non-bio grandkid, and she loved celebrations big and small. She was by far the classiest older adult I have ever known. Her nails were always painted and her outfit was always cute. Her hair was never smushed to one side from sitting in a chair or lying in a bed for days on end. Even with an oxygen tube and canister that followed her everywhere near the end of her life, it mattered to her to look and smell nice, and to be kind to her family and friends. All of this mattered to Grandma, but something mattered more. Jesus mattered most to her.
When the time came for her to fly away from this world into the arms of Jesus, she had something to say. Croak-whispering Grandma said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” And then she was gone.
It’s been many years since Grandma passed, but I often think of her and her legacy. And today, as I read the book of 2 Timothy, I smile and miss her when I read Paul’s words, my grandma’s last words, in 2 Timothy 4:7.
At the beginning of 2 Timothy in my ESV Bible, there is an introductory paragraph that begins with this, “This was the final letter written by Paul as he awaited execution in a Roman jail.”
Either I forgot this or this is new to me. This, this is Paul’s last letter. These are his last written words.
This realization makes me lean in, alert and eager to thirstily drink in the Word of God.
Indeed, given a chance, our last words would be weightier and even calculated. What might we say if we knew what we were writing or saying would be our last opportunity to communicate what matters most to us?
Among other things, in Paul’s last recorded words to Timothy and to us, he reiterates his concern for sound doctrine. He urges his son in the faith to boldness, endurance, and faithfulness to sound doctrine in the face of false teaching.
In light of this, along with our current cultural turmoil of values and standards, I was stopped in my tracks when I read:
“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
2 Timothy 4:3-4
Heaven help us. The time is here when, because people don’t like sound and biblical wisdom, they seek out “teachers” who will tickle their ears and tell them what makes them feel better—all the while leading them away from the truth and ushering them right down a path of destruction.
God have mercy on us and our kin. Be gracious and slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. Forgive us for being distracted and for wandering from You and your Word.
The following acrostic, I.O.U.S., is from a superb article Pastor John Piper wrote on June 5, 2021, “How to Go Deeper in Bible Study”.
Incline our hearts to your testimonies (Psalm 119:36),
Open our eyes to see wonders in your Word (Psalm 119:18),
Unite our hearts to fear your name (Psalm 86:11), and
Satisfy us with your steadfast love (Psalm 90:14)
Hoping you will be encouraged as I was to read this article by Pastor John: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-to-go-deeper-in-bible-study