Sometimes following Jesus is more than we bargained for. We wonder why God allows bad things to happen to us while others seem to have an easy life. Sometimes we feel like simply quitting.
PERSONAL REFLECTION:
1. Have you ever felt like giving up Christianity and taking up an easier way of life?
2. What aspects of Christianity feel like weighty demands or burdens to you?
As a young and timid leader, Timothy faced the dual dilemma of personal inadequacy and a problem-stricken church. If that weren’t enough, Paul, his father in the faith, was in prison facing the prospect of death. His arrest evidently resulted in widespread defections from the faith. This is the last letter Paul wrote before he was executed. From his cell he challenges Timothy to endure. Read 2 Timothy 1:8–2:7.
