May 30 - Mix Tape

May 30 - Mix Tape - 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Diane says:
To come to the end of your life and know that you are there has to be so strange, yet Paul approached it with the grace of a man filled with the Spirit. He recognized the power that had filled his life and knew that he was willing to sacrifice it all.

The beauty of this drink offering is that in Numbers 28:4-7, we find that the drink offering is poured out to accompany the sacrifice of the lamb. Paul lifts the sacrifice of Jesus up as he tells us that he is simply the accompaniment to the power of that offering.

Paul has done all that he could to bring Jesus to the world. He is confident that he sacrificed his life in the manner that he was called and that Jesus will offer the crown of righteousness to him. Does he feel like he earned it? If you have read any of Paul's words, you know that this is a free gift that any of us can have (Ephesians 2:8).

Rebecca says:
What I am about to say might date me, but I am a fan of the mix tape. Any child of the 80’s knows what I am talking about. Those little cassettes with certain hand selected songs recorded on them that you gave to the love of your life or at the least the love of your month. Oh, they were the epitome of romance to me and the crowd I ran with. When you cared enough to give the very best, Hallmark was out the door and the mix tape was it.

I remember one of the first mix tapes I ever made had "Crazy For You" by Madonna, "I Can’t Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon and "The Search is Over" by Survivor. I labored over those songs, went through dozens of albums and finally narrowed my search down to the chosen few. I had a mad crush on the guy I gave it to. We were friends and I could not find the guts or the words to ever tell him how I really felt about him.

I remember trying to write him notes letting him know what I felt but those silly little girl words seemed too insignificant for this bone crushing adoration that welled inside. At the time he was my everything and there was no way I was going to leave the expression of that kind of emotion to my own incapable hands. Madonna, REO, and Survivor could say it so much better. Somehow their lyrics seemed to express and convey the sentiment of my inexperienced 15 year old heart.

I’m sure you are wondering what mix tapes have to do with Timothy. He does not, by any stretch of the imagination seem like a Madonna fan, but I could not help but think of those tapes as we begin to creep to the conclusion of Paul’s letters to Timothy.

I started thinking about all that had been written by him; all the emotion that had been conveyed and as I came to this verse I was moved. I felt that little jolt in your heart you get when you realize something really lovely has just happened. "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering." Those are words even more beautiful than any 80s band could come up with. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." Man, that is just beauty right there. Those are the kind of words that inspire something greater than teenage romance, they create an urgency for love and devotion.

Paul was quite eloquent and truthfully until this study, this was not one of my favorite books, but I have come to appreciate his expression, his devotion and his life. The Bible really is kind of a mixed tape from God to us. Each book was chosen with absolute care, they were hand selected because of the message they contain. They are the words that God sings to our soul to woo us and I am really digging track twelvem "The Letters to Timothy."

Though these last few words are written by Paul, and are about Paul, they could very easily be the same words Jesus would speak to us. In fact if you look through this entire book every bit of love and information and advice and wisdom Paul passes on to dear Timothy is the same that Jesus would pass on to us. We are the Timothys and He is the Paul in this little soundtrack of love and I love that thought.

I love it because I know what it was like to pour through thoughts and lyrics and songs trying to find just the right ones to express what mere words could not and somehow God has done the same thing for us in these books. And what lyric serves as a greater reminder of his love than "I am being poured out like a drink offering."

Paul expresses these words to Timothy because they sprang from his heart, the same place any great love song comes from. And now generations later we pass on these words and they live forever and no longer just express one man's life but a Savior's love for us.

Once again I wish I could find some lyric or song to express what I am feeling right now about this because I am not sure it is coming out correctly with these inexperienced and ridiculously fleshly fingers but in my soul I am deliriously joyous because I think it is just magnificent that a simple letter from one man to another can become bigger than a man and used to express love and wisdom and hope from a God to His children.

As a writer it gives me hope and as a human I hope it gives you hope. I cannot imagine how worn Paul’s soul was when he wrote these last few words. To know that you are being poured out like a drink offering. To be imprisoned, ridiculed, and most importantly willing to be honest to just say what you think from one man to another. Did Paul know the effect these words would have on generations to come? I doubt it. They were just a letter to his dear dear friend, and look how they were used. They were chosen by God to express how He feels toward us His children! Yowza.

So what ordinary, kind of things are you putting off because you think they are insignificant? What words are laid on your heart to share with a friend, that seem like nothing special now so you put it off for another day? Wouldn’t it be something if you just spit them out? If you just wrote them down or said them to whomever or expressed them in some way shape or form and then years and years and generations later you found out that God chose them to use on His mix tape to woo and inspire devotion in those He loves?

I suddenly have the urge to listen to a little Madonna, she really does say it best. God I am crazy for you. Ooohh, I feel a mix tape coming on and I really can’t fight this feeling any longer. The search is over and you were with me all the while... Why didn’t I make that tape for you instead of Gary? You’re a much better boyfriend than he was!