Come Before Winter

COME BEFORE WINTER

      Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments.  Do your utmost to come before winter.  II Timothy 4:13 & 21

Come before winter.  Why?  Paul knew the hardship that winter would bring to Timothy and others when they needed to travel.  As hard as it is to travel in winter today, it was much more difficult in the first century; especially in areas where winters were harsh.

Need I tell anyone about the difficulty of winter travel or just about anything else we have needed to do.  This past week has been one of the harshest winters I have seen in my lifetime.  When we lived in Arkansas, we saw several hard winters, but this one rates as one of the top three I have ever experienced.

There is another lesson to be learned about coming before winter.  The seasons of life can be compared to the seasons of the world.  Spring is new life; birth and childhood.  Summer is the working years where strength is at it’s peak.  Fall is the retirement years when life slows down.  Winter is the end of life and death.

Obviously none of us know when life will end.  If all goes well we will live to old age and then die.  No matter when our life is over, we need to be ready when that day comes.  It may be in the spring of life, the summer of life or the fall of life.  Winter of life will come to us all.  Will we be ready?

Paul’s instructions to Timothy to come before winter is good advice for all of us.  Get ready and be prepared for life’s end no matter how old we are.  So I ask, if the winter of life comes to you sooner than you think it should, will you be ready?

How many of us were ill prepared for the winter weather we have had this past week.  Let it be a lesson in spiritual matters, that winter is going to come to all of us in life.  Will you be ready?