“When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing.”
Titus 3:12-13
The Bible tells us that every word in it is God-breathed; therefore, vital and instructive (2 Timothy 3:16). How are we to take these words in Paul’s farewell to Titus? What is on display for us here?
I suppose we can view it as a farewell full of pleasantries. Yet, in the shadows, we are given vital words suggesting more. We read of the Apostle Paul sending some away, inviting others to return, and directing Titus to send others out. There was a great deal of movement taking place. It was happening among disciples ready to tackle their next assignment.
Titus could have been content with being an interpreter for Paul, but God had more. The Lord built up Titus, and Paul noticed. He was the Apostle’s “partner and fellow worker” who was trustworthy and dependable. He had been with Paul at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15; Galatians 2). As a Gentile Christian, Titus was particularly effective in combating the heresy of the Judaizers. Therefore he was appointed to lead works in Corinth, Crete, and Dalmatia (2 Corinthians 8:16-17; 2 Timothy 4:10). He was not to settle. Titus was to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. Even to areas he may have never thought he would be.
There are some crucial instructions for us in these final words of Paul’s. As believers in Jesus Christ, we must always seek God’s perfect will and be available to move at a moment’s notice (James 4:13-17). God’s will can be the most unsettling experience. However, in the Lord’s economy, anything uncomfortable may bring the most joy. As the Lord moved closer to the Cross, the painful road brought the joy of our salvation. May we find pleasure in His work. Although it can be uncomfortable, our current situation is a necessary part of His plan. May we stay true and see it through!
“We must never think, because the particular work we have in hand seems to be insignificant, that therefore we cannot do it, or should not do it, thoroughly well. We need Divine help to preach aright to a congregation of one. If a thing is worth doing at all, it is worth doing well. If you had to sweep a crossing, it were well to sweep it better than anybody else. . . . Know your work, and bend over it, throwing your heart and soul into it; for, be it great or small, you will have to praise God to all eternity if you are found faithful in it.”
– C.H. Spurgeon
surrendered devotions 