One of my favorite books of the Bible if not my favorite is 2 Timothy. I have always appreciated the heartfelt words of the apostle Paul to his beloved son in the faith, Pastor Tim (Timothy), as Paul's life is coming to an end. But this week, I have also spent some time in 2 Peter as the church family gets ready to embark into a study of this letter. This letter also contains parting words as the apostle Peter recognizes his death is imminent (2 Peter 1:13-15).
As I thought about these two letters from the Bible, I could not help but ask myself what my parting words would be if I had a chance to write them out shortly before my death. To be honest, I am not sure I have a solid answer yet, so I am going to keep wrestling with it. But it does cause one to pause and ask yet again what type of legacy am I leaving with my family, my co-workers, my church family. Very sobering thoughts to say the least.
I also got thinking about the fact that not everyone gets the opportunity to take the time to reflect upon what parting words they would leave in writing for others. With that in mind, here are a few other thoughts that have challenged my heart this past week...
First, does my life regularly reflect an intimate knowledge of Jesus as seen in my day to day words and deeds? If so, I can confidently go at any point and know that my daily life represented a legacy that consistently pointed people towards my Savior.
Secondly, I can't let any amount of time go by with hurtful words/actions hanging over any relationship. How sad to think that my parting words/actions to someone else I love would be anything but God honoring.
There are a whole lot of other thoughts floating around in my head right now, but the parting words of the apostle Peter sure got me thinking quite a bit this week.
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