Sinclair Ferguson

Not that I've already obtained this or I'm already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do.

Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

You remember at the beginning of Philippians, Paul indicates that his young colleague Timothy was with him.

And you know that Paul often dictated his letters, and I've sometimes wondered if he mentions Timothy because Timothy was his secretary in this letter.

The letter begins, Paul and Timothy.

And I wonder if he gave his son a slight smile when he told him to write his own name down.

But if that were the case, I'm pretty sure as Paul came on to this passage, brothers, there is one thing I do, I think Timothy might well have looked up at Paul with a quizzical stare.

And if Paul said, did I say something you didn't understand?

Maybe Timothy would have had the courage plucked up to respond.

Paul, do you really want me to say that you do only one thing?

As long as I've known you, you've always been doing a whole pile of things.

And at the same time, you're the ultimate multitasking apostle.

You're always traveling.

You're always preaching.

You're always praying.

You're always visiting.

You're always counseling.

I've never seen you do just one thing.

You know, I think Paul would have smiled back to his young friend Timothy and said, I know what you mean, Timothy.