Editor’s note: The follow is an excerpt from Megan Hill’s book Partners in the Gospel: 50 Meditations for Pastors’ and Elders’ Wives. We happily commend it to you.
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“Do your best to come to me soon.” (2 Tim. 4:9)
The apostle Paul was no wimp. He defended the faith before kings (see Acts 26), wrote much of the New Testament, planted numerous churches, suffered extended imprisonment, and endured beatings and shipwrecks (see 2 Cor. 11:25). We’d describe him as intelligent, persistent, and hardy. Since he had that kind of character, it might be tempting for us to think of him as someone who didn’t really need other people and who certainly didn’t need friends.
But we would be wrong.
Repeatedly in Scripture, the Apostle Paul expresses a longing to be with various saints in the churches (see, for instance, 1 Cor. 16:7; Phil. 2:23–24; 1 Thess. 2:17). He earnestly prayed that God would permit him to be physically present with his friends (see Rom. 1:9–15), and he encouraged church members to cultivate affectionate relationships with one another (see, for instance, Rom. 16:16). As today’s verse demonstrates, Timothy was Paul’s particular friend, and Paul especially wanted to
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