For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6-8
“I write to the Churches, and impress on them all, that I shall willingly die for God, unless ye hinder me. I beseech of you not to show an unseasonable good-will towards me. Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God. I am the wheat of God, and let me be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my tomb, and may leave nothing of my body; so that when I have fallen asleep [in death], I may be no trouble to any one. Then shall I truly be a disciple of Christ, when the world shall not see so much as my body. Entreat Christ for me, that by these instruments I may be found a sacrifice [to God]. I do not, as Peter and Paul, issue commandments unto you. They were apostles; I am but a condemned man: they were free, while I am, even until now, a servant. But when I suffer, I shall be the freed-man of Jesus, and shall rise again emancipated in Him. And now, being a prisoner, I learn not to desire anything worldly or vain.”
Ignatius of Antioch in his letter To the Romans 4 (c. A.D. 110). Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch was arrested and taken to Rome at the beginning of the second century.
Along the way he wrote seven short letters which remain to this day: to Polycarp, to the Smyrnaeans, to the Trallians, to the Magnesians, to the Ephesians, to the Philadelphians, and to the Romans.
His tone is similar to that of Paul in today’s Scripture. Ignatius proclaimed that he would willingly die for God. He would give his life as a sacrifice to God. So what does this have to do with generosity?
My word for the year is remember. What did Ignatius want the Christians to remember as he was about to give his life as a sacrifice? He impressed on them that he wanted finish his course as a true disciples of Christ. And notice, while remaining on earth, Ignatius adds, “I learn not to desire anything worldly or vain.”
Time was short for Ignatius, but in reality, it is limited for all of us. May we learn not to desire anything world or vain, and give our lives as living sacrifices for Jesus in the times in which we find ourselves.