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Each day at work, I take a couple of minutes to digitally scan a Christian book or a Christian journal or a Christian magazine I possess. The reason I do this is because I am moving many documents to a digital form. This means I can easily carry the rich teaching in many of the documents and books I have on a single disk.

2 Timothy 4:13 says, “When you come, bring my cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls and especially the parchments."

It's a fascinating passage. The scrolls are Paul’s personal copies of Old Testament books; the parchments are probably notes that Paul has taken, including perhaps written records of things Jesus said or did. Let’s remember too that Paul is near the end of his life, probably in prison. So, he asks Timothy to find his scrolls and parchments so he could have access to all the wealth of knowledge he has recorded.

What's also fascinating is in verse 11 he asks Timothy to bring Mark with him. Mark is the author of the Gospel of Mark. Scholars think that Paul would have passed to Mark not only the Old Testament scrolls, but also his parchments – parchments that contain records of things that Jesus said and did – to help Mark write his Gospel. It's an intriguing thought, isn't it?

The key thing is Paul knows how important it is to access his faith as it is recorded in the Old Testament and as he remembers what Jesus said and did.

You and I carry our Bibles in our hands and on our cell phones. We can easily access them no matter where we are. I encourage us to be like Paul, desperate to have the Scriptures and desperate to read the Word of God.

Let's pray.

Thank you, Lord, for your Word that teaches us, shows us where we need to change, encourages us, and opens our eyes to who you are and all that you have done through Jesus Christ. May we be as eager to read Scripture as Paul was to have Timothy bring his scrolls and parchments to him. And then, Lord, may our lives be changed. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

每天工作時，我都會花幾分鐘以數位方式掃描一本古老的基督教書籍或一本
基督教日誌或我擁有的基督教雜誌。我這樣做的原因是因為我正在將許多文件轉換為數位形式。這意味著我可以輕鬆地攜帶一個磁碟裡有我所擁有的許多文件和書籍中的豐富教學內容。

提摩太後書 4:13 說：“我在特羅亞留於加布的那件外衣，你來的時候可以帶來，那些書也要帶來，更要緊的是那些皮卷”。

這是一段引人入勝的段落。這些書卷是保羅個人抄寫的舊約聖經圖書;皮卷可能是保羅所做的筆記，其中可能包括耶穌所說或所做的事情的書面記錄。我們也請記住，保羅已接近他一生的尾聲，可能是在監獄裡。因此，他要求提摩太找到他的捲軸和皮卷，以便他可以獲得他所記錄的所有知識財富。

最令人著迷的是在第11節中，他還要求提摩太帶馬可一起去。馬可是《馬可福音》的作者。學者認為，保羅不僅會向馬可傳遞《舊約》捲軸，還會傳遞他的皮卷——記錄耶穌所說和所做之事的皮卷——以幫助馬可寫下他的福音書。這是一個有趣的想法，不是嗎？

關鍵在於保羅知道獲得舊約所記載的信仰以及他記得耶穌所說和所做的事情是多麼重要。

你和我手裡和手機上都有聖經。無論我們身在何處，我們都可以輕鬆存取它們。我鼓勵我們像保羅一樣，渴望得到聖經，渴望閱讀神的話語。

讓我們一起禱告。

主啊，感謝祢的話語教導我們，向我們展示需要改變的地方，鼓勵我們，讓我們看見祢是誰，以及祢透過耶穌基督所做的一切。願我們像保羅要求提摩太把他的書捲和皮卷帶給他一樣渴望閱讀聖經。然後，主啊，願我們的生命改變。我們奉耶穌的名求這點。阿門。

Grace and peace
Pastor Callum