Text: 1 Tim 6:11 But thou, O man of God (Timothy), flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Thoughts: we know at least a few things about Timothy, as recorded in the New Testament. He was from Lystra, a city in Asia Minor (Acts 16:1, this city was located in modern day Turkey); his mother, named Lois, was a Jewish believer in Jesus; and the same is most likely true about his grandmother, Lois (2 Timothy 1:5). His father was a Greek but his name is nowhere revealed. Timothy was a devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul (numerous references in Acts and the Epistles of Paul).
Yet the one thing that sets Timothy apart from any other believer of the New Testament era is that he, alone, was called “a man of God” in the New Testament. None of the apostles, none of the New Testament prophets, or any other believer received that title. One may ask, why?
First, Timothy made a decision to accept God’s gift of salvation. When this happened is uncertain, but according to Acts 16, Timothy was already a “disciple”. Then when Paul wanted him to be part of his “team”, so to speak, Timothy made that decision to leave his home and probably everything else to follow Paul in that ministry. Later, Timothy was left in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3) and, later, even went to prison for his faith in Jesus (Hebrews 13:23)!
But Timothy was not a “super-saint”, by any definition. He seemed to be timid, and Paul reminded him that God had not given anyone a “spirit of fear (2 Tim. 1:7)”. Paul gave him repeated instructions and exhortations in the two letters to Timothy but there is no record in Scripture as to what Timothy did or how he responded to these messages. The only thing we know for sure is that he, as mentioned, even went to prison (charges and location unknown).
This should bring comfort to those of us believers who feel that, maybe, we just “haven’t arrived” until we’re well known, prosperous, successful, or any other “standard” that is supposed to measure success these days. Granted, there is nothing wrong with desiring to achieve “the American dream”—however it’s defined—but Timothy knew that nothing was better than following Jesus. Maybe he knew Matthew 6:33 by heart!
At any rate, he became known as a “man of God”. Could there be anything greater than this?
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).