The apostle Paul and Demas were both missionaries, but Paul’s unswerving goal was to do good—to fulfill God’s will for his life. At the end of his life, he shivered in a dank Roman dungeon, w here he awaited execution. He asked Mark to bring him the coat he had left at Troas (2 Tim. 4:13). Obviously, Paul had few or no possessions, but neither did he have any complaints. He had served the Lord faithfully and therefore anticipated receiving a heavenly reward, “the crown of righteousness” (4:8). Demas, on the other hand, swerved from doing good—from doing God’s will. Having “loved this world” (v. 16), he tossed aside the opportunity to receive a heavenly crown.
Like Paul and Demas, every Christian must choose whether to invest his or her life in doing good or spend in it in getting goods. The desires of the flesh may be met temporarily by getting goods, but the desires of the heart can be met only by doing good. As the apostle John wrote: “The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).
