1 Tim 1:17

"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever, Amen."

Here Paul is finishing off this previous thought to Timothy with a Doxology. Sometimes it can be so difficult to engaget Doloxology like statements. Today, I was trying to help myself by thinking of the emotion that Paul would have had when he wrote. So today I actually tried to think about saying this in different voices. First, I did chant it in a very Gregorian style a couple of times. Regretfully, this is often how we view these in a very traditional systematic manner. I chuckled more then anything as I did this walking down the street. Secondly, I tried to say it in an attitude of prayer, trying to find a sincerity in the verse. After this, my mind wandered to Tom Hanks in saving Private Ryan. For some reason, I pictured him saying it just before he blew up the bridge at the end of the movie. Funny enough, I think it would have been a great ending line for him.

I tried to think of this verse in terms of all that Paul said and I found myself repeating again and again, "King of Ages, immortal, invisble, the only God.". After a while, the verses seemed to make a little more sense with Paul's context. Paul, had in a very simple way gone about laying out the redemptive plan of God. Overflowing mercy, His purpose to save sinners, his redemption for the worst, his faithful appointing to service, and His daily strengthening. This is the work of the eternal God. It has been his plan throughout the ages and He carefully worked it out for His "honor and glory".