“Bring…my scrolls and especially the parchments.”  2 Tim. 4:13

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible.  Why in the world would I value this verse?  I have never once heard a message preached on it, never once read a book written on it, and never watched a video series on it.  But of all the verses I would encourage a believer, especially a new one, to read and absorb, this would be at the top of the list.

Paul is an old man ready for death when he writes his 2nd letter to Timothy, his young apprentice in ministry.  And after he reminds, exhorts, and admonishes Timothy to do all the most important things subsequent to Paul’s death (an apparent beheading in Rome), this seasoned and scarred veteran asks his young friend to make sure that before he dies, he can get his hands on something.  Not an X-Box or an iPod or iPhone. 

BOOKS.  After years of painful, difficult service to Christ, he craves the warm companionship of a visit from Timothy as well as scrolls and parchments that he could read until his death.  An overlooked verse to be sure.  But a very important nugget we must not miss any longer.

As a Jewish Rabbi, Saul (Paul’s pre-conversion name) was exposed to scrolls and parchments at a young age as he set to memorizing the Torah (first 5 books of our Old Testament).  He then dedicated the rest of his adult life to the Hebrew scriptures and the writings about and interpretations of our Old Testament.  Once he converted to faith in Christ as the Messiah, he certainly heard the first hand accounts of the disciples that walked with Jesus on the earth.  He probably wrote, or dictated to a young apprentice, in true Jewish fashion, his own journal of events that took place in his life. 

No one knows which scrolls and parchments he requested.  It does not matter.  The point is that Paul, who wrote half our New Testament, was a man who loved books.  He read them.  He wrote them.  He missed them when he did not have them.  And as he approached the end of his life, he craved books.

We would be wise to follow his example.  And to begin this short series, here are a handful of the books that have shaped my theology of God and my philosophy of life.  More to come later…

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis

The Normal Christian Life - Watchman Nee

My Utmost For His Highest - Oswald Chambers

The Release Of The Spirit - Watchman Nee

The Pursuit Of God - A.W. Tozer

Confessions - St. Augustine

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