Loving and Losing

“For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.” 

—2 Timothy 4:10

The Christian life is filled with pitfalls, pains, and problems—and among the greatest of these pains is the loss of a friend. Paul was not immune to the sting of a relationship lost. Demas was once one of Paul’s traveling companions. We don’t know much about Demas except that he was with Paul when he wrote his letters to the Colossians and to Philemon and that he was well known enough to merit a mention in Paul’s second letter to Timothy. The other two times he is mentioned, it is as a “fellow worker” of Paul’s (Philemon 1:23-24, Colossians 4:14), which means that he was one of Paul’s intimate friends, a comrade in arms, and a co-laborer in ministry. Together they likely planted churches, evangelized the lost, rebuked the wayward, and battled the spiritual forces in the heavenly places. Day in and day out they worked together, laboring side by side for the sake of the Name. The hours spent in prayer and worship, traveling and teaching, were too numerous to be counted. Together they had given their blood, sweat, and tears to make these fledgling churches work, overcoming a mountain of obstacles along the way. But this partnership ended when Demas deserted Paul.

One wonders about the pain that filled his soul when he wrote, “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me…” Oh, how painful it must have been for Paul to pen those words! How much emotion! How many tears flowed as he wrote the name of his dear and beloved friend! Imagine the thoughts that filled his mind, the flood of memories they had shared, recalling the days when they worshiped and praised the name of the precious Savior! To know that his friend and fellow worker deserted him is one thing, but to desert him because he was “in love with this present world” which is passing away was entirely another. It must have been unbearable, but he pressed on.

Each of us knows of a friend or family member who has deserted Christ. We know the stinging pain that comes to mind whenever we see or hear a report about them. We remember the days together, and the thought of them spending eternity away from Christ breaks our heart! Oh, how we pray that God may grant them repentance that leads to life! Oh, how we hope that they might turn back to Christ before it’s too late!

I hope that Demas might be a warning for us all. One can be close to Christ and not be a true follower. One thinks of Judas who walked with the Lord for three years, seeing all of His miracles, hearing His teaching day after day, and still he was not a true believer. It is not in doing great things for Christ that makes us a Christian, but believing and doing God’s will (cf. Matthew 7:21-23).

The lure of the world is enticing to every one of us. It offers us satisfaction apart from Christ, but it is imperative that we remember that “the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever”—1 John 2:17. Demas chose to believe the lie of this world, trading in the Creator for the creation, and sabotaging his salvation in the process.

May we constantly be on guard against the world’s power of seduction! The world wars against our soul, seeking to seduce us at every turn! Only those who refuse to befriend or love the world by continually renewing their minds by the truth of God’s word will be able to escape its subtle snares!

Our satisfaction is to be found in Christ and in Him alone! May we continually drink of the water of His delights, forsaking sin, while clinging to the cross of Christ! It is only in Christ that our true heart’s desire is found, and it is only in Him that there is fullness of joy! May God enable each one of us to love Jesus more than this passing world, and may God be glorified because of it! Amen.