WHEN YOU LOVE SOMEONE

2 Timothy 1:3-5 (KJV)

I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

We’re continuing on with our series of lessons from 2 Timothy.

I believe Paul wrote this letter just after writing 1 Timothy. 

I am sure that he wrote it being fully aware that his days were few.

2 Timothy 4:6 (KJV)

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

Paul’s love for Timothy is clearly seen in

2 Timothy 1:2 (KJV)

To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

So it is not that surprising that Paul would begin this last letter to Timothy, his son in the faith, in an emotional way.

I. PAUL PRAYED FOR HIM

2 Timothy 1:3 (KJV)

I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

There are any number of people I pray for regularly.

• I pray for the people of this church
• I pray for the members of my family (brothers and sisters)
• I pray for those preachers who will go to their pulpits today
• I pray for missionaries

I also pray for those who ask me to pray for them

I pray through the requests that people give us on Wednesday nights

There are a few people that I have purposed to pray for especially regularly

• A particular group of pastors
• A hand full of people who are especially important to me

But then there are certain ones that I don’t have to even purpose to pray for.

Bohannan and Caleb sometimes ask me to pray with them or for them, but they don’t really have to do that – I can’t help but pray for them.

They are always near my heart

• I can’t hear their voice
• I can’t see a picture of them
• I can’t listen to something they have done

Without it moving me to prayer for them.

Paul told Timothy that he prayed without ceasing for him.

That would be difficult to understand if Timothy was just a name in his prayer list.

But it’s not hard to understand at all, when you realize that Paul loved him.

The best thing you can do for someone you love is to pray (without ceasing) for them.

II. PAUL LONGED TO SEE HIM

2 Timothy 1:4 (KJV)

Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;

I realize the dynamic is a bit different but see if this illustration doesn’t work:

Paul is the father in the faith, Timothy is the son in the faith.

The father longs to see the son. 

I am sure that Timothy loved Paul, but we do not find anywhere that Timothy longed to see Paul.

Every parent of adult children in this room knows what it feels like to long to see your kids.

• Their lives have taken them sometimes to far away places where we seldom get to see them
• Their responsibilities prevent them from coming to visit us as much as we would like for them to come

Our own constraints prohibit us from making as many trips to see them as we wished we could.

• Paul was in a prison cell
• Timothy was busy about his ministry

But Paul loved Timothy and greatly desired to see him.

A popular song when I was in high school was “Cats in the Cradle”

My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and there were bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away

And he was talking 'fore I knew it and as he grew
He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad
You know, I'm gonna be like you"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when
We'll get together then, son, you know we'll have a good time then"

When my son turned ten just the other day
Said, "Thanks for the ball, dad, come on and let's play
Can you teach me to throw?" I said, "Not today
I got a lot to do" he said, "That's okay"

And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
Said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah
You know, I'm gonna be like him"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when
We'll get together then, son, you know we'll have a good time then"

Well, he came from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
"Son, I'm proud of you, can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head and he said with a smile

"What I'd really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later
Can I have them please?"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when
But we'll get together then, dad, We're gonna have a good time then"

Well, I've long since retired and my son's moved away
Called him up just the other day
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind"
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time"

"You see, my new job's a hassle and the kid's got the flu
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad
It's been sure nice talking to you"

And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

Yeah, and the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when
But we'll get together then, dad, we're gonna have a good time then"

When you love someone you take time with them.

III. PAUL REMEMBERED HIM

2 Timothy 1:5 (KJV)

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

The phrase “call to remembrance” implies more than those memories that sort of fall upon us.

The phrase means that he seized his memories.

He forced the memory of Timothy into his head.

We have in our home, walls and walls filled with pictures of our kids and our grandkids.

Of course I can’t do it every time I walk down the hall, but I can tell you that I very often purposely take the time to look at every picture.

• I can remember the circumstances surrounding when they were taken
• I can remember what my kids were like at that stage in their life
• I can remember what Anita and I were doing and thinking during that time in our lives when the pictures were taken

I can, in some ways, visit with 10 year old Bohannan or 8 year old Caleb.

When you love someone to meditate upon them.

Conclusion

1 John 4:10 (KJV)

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Paul becomes here a type of God and His love for you and me:

He prays for us

Hebrews 7:25 (KJV)

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

He longs to see and hear from us

Hebrews 4:16 (KJV)

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

He remembers us

Genesis 8:1

And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;

Genesis 19:29

And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

Genesis 30:22

And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.