Paul languished in Mamertine prison, unsure of his future. From this cell Paul eventually started his journey to martyrdom, and he felt these final hours as he wrote to Timothy.

Paul’s words reveal both despair and hope: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.

Paul understood the future as he met a martyr’s death. He didn’t ask for a ministry created around his legacy, nor did Paul encourage Timothy to build a monument in his honor. Rather, Paul etched into Timothy this truth: God’s word is not chained.

To this day, God’s word remains unchained. The Bible is the most powerful book you’ll ever read. It’s the most constraining, and at the same time most freeing literature in existence. Yet it’s so much more than literature. It’s living and active. A mysterious, animated power seethes through the Scriptures.

God’s word breathes.

This word brings us the power of God to salvation, and sets us on a path with the divine. Through it we learn to love God and love others. It changes people of every generation around the world.

God’s word is not chained. But it can be ignored—don’t make that mistake. Open the book. Unshackle yourself with the Holy Scriptures.

2 Timothy 2 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Ben Lambert