Generally speaking, the books of Timothy are considered to be Pastoral Epistles. Paul considered Timothy as his son. Timothy’s Mom was Jewish and his grandmother was a godly lady. Paul is writing his final instructions to Timothy as he knows his time on this earth is done. Paul does not complain about his circumstances because he knew Jesus walked the path of suffering and death before He was exalted. Paul was taking the same path that Jesus did before him. Jesus took the path directly to the cross. Jesus, the offspring of David, bears the sins of anyone who trusts in Him for salvation and life. Beyond death the path continued with His resurrection and exaltation. Any time we share in suffering with Jesus we take the same path and walk in His promises, which are life-giving.

We embrace the pattern of Jesus’s life as the story of how our lives ought to be. Upon entering the sufferings of Christ, the pattern of His life becomes the pattern of your life. Now you love and know Jesus in new and deeper ways.

This passage is important because it aligns and focuses us on our priority. This passage sounds mundane and this message may come across as basic. You will be right concluding that. This is where we all need to be. We need this to be our launching pad in Christian living. So many distractions, other passions, other insights, keep us away from becoming the disciples that Christ desires. Paul uses contrasts to get us back to the basics of pursuing Jesus.