May I ask you about your own devotional life?

May I ask you about your own devotional life? How are you
doing spiritually speaking right now? Are you growing in the knowledge and the
grace of God?

Sir Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen farther, it
is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Pastor Steve Weaver commented on this by saying, "Newton saw
farther than anyone had before, because he learned from those who had gone
before him. Just imagine, if all anyone knew was the knowledge he accumulated
on his own! There would be no electricity, no light bulb, no telephone, no
computers, no cars, no airplanes, no space shuttles, etc. But because men
learned from those who had gone before, these inventions and many more were
possible. Sadly, many preachers like to work in a vacuum, gleaning nothing from
the God-gifted men who have gone before them. God has especially equipped the
Body of Christ with teachers, evangelist, and pastors. I thank God for men like
Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Newton, John Bunyan, Jonathan
Edwards, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and a host of others, who are, without a
doubt, God's gifts to the Church! By studying the writings of these gifted men,
we are enabled to “stand on their shoulders."

That's true regarding knowledge in general and the
knowledge of God in particular, but I believe this principle also holds true
concerning developing a rich devotional life. Don't simply try to go it alone.
Let others help you on your journey.

2 Timothy reveals Paul's mindset as he awaited his
impending death. Understanding this context, let’s read this last instruction
to Timothy: “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas,
also the books, and above all the parchments." (2 Tim. 4:13)

I find this quite amazing. Paul, the great Apostle was
about to die. In the very same chapter he had written,"I am already being
poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have
fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
(v. 6, 7)

Paul was the great adventurer and pioneer. He had taken
the Gospel of Christ to many foreign lands for the very first time. He had
accomplished so much in the cause of Christ. If anyone had the right to think
that they could coast the rest of the way it was Paul. He'd been there, done that,
bought the T-shirt and was usually beaten, stoned and jailed for doing so. Even
now he writes from a jail cell in the city of Rome. But rather than wanting to
sit back, relax and take it easy spiritually, his heart was to press on... to
study more, to learn something more about the Word of God, and know the Master
He served that little bit better. Because of this strong, abiding passion in
Paul, he asks Timothy to bring the parchments with him when he came (in all
probability, the "parchments" mentioned here is a reference to the
sacred Scriptures themselves). But in addition to the parchments, there's
something else Paul wants. He wants books. Books!!?? Books!!??

Can we grasp what's happening here? The Apostle Paul is
just about to die... about to depart to be with Christ... and he asks for
books??? I can certainly understand Paul’s' desire to read the scriptures and
find comfort and solace there, but "books"? Knowing that death was
soon awaiting, would we have requested books?

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, commentating on this verse says,
"He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has seen the Lord, and yet he
wants books! He has had wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books!
He had been caught up in the third heaven, and had heard things unlawful for a
man to utter, yet he wants books! He has written a major part of the New
Testament, and yet he wants books! The apostle says to Timothy and so he says
to every Christian, “Give thyself to reading.” The man who never reads will
never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use
the thoughts of other men’s brains proves he has no brains of his own."
(from sermon #542, "Paul - His Cloak and His Books")

If anyone could have said "I don't need the writings
of others" it was Paul. I dare to say that no man living had the insight
he did. Yet, he wanted to know what others were discovering in their walk with
Christ. What a lesson this is.

Christian, let this be a word of challenge and of
strength to you - don't try to go it alone in your walk with Christ. Allow
others to help and to guide you. Take some friends with you as you enter the
secret place - the place where you and God meet each day... above all take the
Bible, of course... but also take with you the writings of a few trusted
individuals who have walked the same barren hills as yourself, and have beaten
a sure and tried path to the Savior. As you do, I think you'll find that others
have been where you now stand... and what they found, you can find too. Allow
them to direct you to the arms and safety of the Shepherd of the sheep - our
great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

By Pastor John Samson from the “Reformation Theology”
Website