2 Timothy 2:3-7 says,...
Today's verses are 2 Timothy 2:3-7, which read,
v.3, 4 - Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
Paul is going to give Timothy three word pictures to help him understand what is means to not waver and be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. These three illustrations help to guide this process of discipleship that is to be happening in the church with sharing and living the Word of God with faithful men and women who will also share it with others and so on and so on and so on.
This first word picture is a soldier and he is described as a good soldier who suffers hardships for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ as Paul is doing. A soldier is enlisted to do battle if needed. A soldier is given a post to watch and defend. A soldier has a mission that needs to be attended to in the midst of everyday life going on around them. They are not a good soldier if they are sleeping on their watch.
v.3, 4 - Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
Paul is going to give Timothy three word pictures to help him understand what is means to not waver and be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. These three illustrations help to guide this process of discipleship that is to be happening in the church with sharing and living the Word of God with faithful men and women who will also share it with others and so on and so on and so on.
This first word picture is a soldier and he is described as a good soldier who suffers hardships for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ as Paul is doing. A soldier is enlisted to do battle if needed. A soldier is given a post to watch and defend. A soldier has a mission that needs to be attended to in the midst of everyday life going on around them. They are not a good soldier if they are sleeping on their watch.
Standing
at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery for the
changing of the guard is quite a site to take in. These soldiers are
dedicated to precision and many watch on as they transfer the duty from
one soldier to the next. When it is completed, the crowds leave and go
on to other sites in our nation's capital but that soldier on duty does
not. He marches back and forth even if no one is looking. He marches
through the night and through all kinds of weather. He doesn't get
entangled in the affairs of everyday life when he is on duty. His
mission is clear and his responsibilities are well laid out to complete
them.
We are to be soldiers, good soldiers, enlisted by Christ to spread the gospel. We are to be active in doing this. The world will have many things that we could get wrapped up in that would take us away from this post but we are to keep guard with this message given to us by God and displayed for us by the greatest soldier of all time, Jesus Christ. He stayed on point to the cross and beyond.
v.5 - Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.
The second word picture is that of an athlete. The athlete is training to run a race. The race has rules to abide by. The good athlete is one who trains and then the one who runs according to those rules to when the prize.
Probably the greatest failure of this principle in modern times is that of Lance Armstrong. He won 7 of the Tour de France bicycle races to have his medals stripped of him when he was found to have broken the rules.
The prize is what God supplies and God supplies also the rules that are to be followed to receive the prize. The rules of God involve a relationship with Jesus which involves bowing in submission to Him and repenting of our sins to follow after Him and His ways.
v.6, 7 - The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding to everything.
The third word picture is this hard-working farmer who has prepared the soil and picked up all the rocks. He has pulled the weeds and planted to good seed. He has watered the ground when needed and covered his plants when in danger of frost. He is tending his garden for a harvest in the future. This hard-working farmer at the harvest will receive some benefit for all the work that as been put in. The food might be for others but he will also receive nourishment from the food itself or from the diligence of his labors.
Paul is instructing Timothy to be that hard-working farmer who is attending the soil around him, the soil of the people who need to hear the gospel. Be that hard-working farmer who gets up each day to look at his garden and see what needs to be done. A harvest is coming for God and our work of the garden will nourish us as we tend to the garden God has put us in to care for.
Paul then tells Timothy to think about these things and the Lord would help him to understand. Paul calls for Timothy to be a good active soldier not a distracted soldier; he calls him to be an athlete who plays with integrity not a doping athlete; and Paul instructs Timothy to be hard-working farmer not a dragging your feet weedy garden farmer. The gospel is something that we receive but then we diligently share with others. Let's pray.
"Lord, thank You for these word pictures today. As we go about our day, may we see ourselves at our post as a soldier to defend who You are in our lives and not get side-tracked into other things to worship. May we see Your rules as good for us to grow in the relationship with have with You that ends with us at the finish line in Your presence and not take up some other rules to live by. May we work hard in the garden looking not only at the benefit we will receive but that there would be others who would be harvested to live for You and after You and not be a lazy farmer among so much work. Help us to understand these more in depth today to apply what You have given us. Amen."
Pastor Adam
We are to be soldiers, good soldiers, enlisted by Christ to spread the gospel. We are to be active in doing this. The world will have many things that we could get wrapped up in that would take us away from this post but we are to keep guard with this message given to us by God and displayed for us by the greatest soldier of all time, Jesus Christ. He stayed on point to the cross and beyond.
v.5 - Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.
The second word picture is that of an athlete. The athlete is training to run a race. The race has rules to abide by. The good athlete is one who trains and then the one who runs according to those rules to when the prize.
Probably the greatest failure of this principle in modern times is that of Lance Armstrong. He won 7 of the Tour de France bicycle races to have his medals stripped of him when he was found to have broken the rules.
The prize is what God supplies and God supplies also the rules that are to be followed to receive the prize. The rules of God involve a relationship with Jesus which involves bowing in submission to Him and repenting of our sins to follow after Him and His ways.
v.6, 7 - The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding to everything.
The third word picture is this hard-working farmer who has prepared the soil and picked up all the rocks. He has pulled the weeds and planted to good seed. He has watered the ground when needed and covered his plants when in danger of frost. He is tending his garden for a harvest in the future. This hard-working farmer at the harvest will receive some benefit for all the work that as been put in. The food might be for others but he will also receive nourishment from the food itself or from the diligence of his labors.
Paul is instructing Timothy to be that hard-working farmer who is attending the soil around him, the soil of the people who need to hear the gospel. Be that hard-working farmer who gets up each day to look at his garden and see what needs to be done. A harvest is coming for God and our work of the garden will nourish us as we tend to the garden God has put us in to care for.
Paul then tells Timothy to think about these things and the Lord would help him to understand. Paul calls for Timothy to be a good active soldier not a distracted soldier; he calls him to be an athlete who plays with integrity not a doping athlete; and Paul instructs Timothy to be hard-working farmer not a dragging your feet weedy garden farmer. The gospel is something that we receive but then we diligently share with others. Let's pray.
"Lord, thank You for these word pictures today. As we go about our day, may we see ourselves at our post as a soldier to defend who You are in our lives and not get side-tracked into other things to worship. May we see Your rules as good for us to grow in the relationship with have with You that ends with us at the finish line in Your presence and not take up some other rules to live by. May we work hard in the garden looking not only at the benefit we will receive but that there would be others who would be harvested to live for You and after You and not be a lazy farmer among so much work. Help us to understand these more in depth today to apply what You have given us. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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