Who was the man that co-authored six of Paul’s thirteen epistles (2 Corinthians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; Philemon 1)?
Surely, he must have been an extraordinary disciple!
Who was he? Timothy.
Timothy’s dad was a Greek, and apparently not a Jewish convert (Acts 16:1). “His mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois” (2 Timothy 1:5) were faithful Hebrews who raised Timothy on a steady diet of Old Testament Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:15).
Timothy’s family lived in Lystra, a town that Paul and Barnabas visited on the first missionary journey (Acts 14:6–23). It must have been during Paul’s visit that the Apostle led Timothy to saving faith in Jesus. Later, Paul referred to Timothy as his “dearly loved and faithful child in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 4:17). When the aged Apostle wrote to Timothy, he addressed “Timothy, my true son in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2) and “Timothy, my dearly loved son” (2 Timothy 1:2).
Timothy wasn’t just a convert to Christianity who was assured of eternal fire insurance. He was a “hearer of the word”and a bold “doer of the word” (James 1:22). Timothy traveled with Paul, faithfully, shoulder to shoulder. The younger disciple was with Paul when he was imprisoned in Rome (Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; Philemon 1). On a later occasion, Timothy was imprisoned, presumably for boldly preaching the Gospel of Grace (Hebrews 13:23).
In Paul’s final correspondence, he challenged Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:1–2). In other words, Paul called Timothy to be a faithful disciple-making-disciple.
We too, are called with this holy calling…. to “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19) who will make disciples.
“… think on these things”(Philippians 4:8, KJV).
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