You therefore must endure hardship as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the
affairs of [this] life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes
according to the rules. The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the
crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all
things. 2 Timothy 2:3-7 NKJV
Who in this life has never wished that
something could be easier? It just seems
natural that we look for the easiest way to do something in order to avoid
expending more physical or emotional effort than required to accomplish
whatever it is we are faced with. I have
a feeling most of us, if given a choice, would choose an easier task rather
than a difficult one simply because it seems to be our nature to do that.Yet in this passage Paul does a very good job of removing any thoughts we might have that a life pleasing to Christ is going to be easy. In fact, he does just the opposite by comparing the life we have chosen to three occupations that help to illustrate what will be expected of us if we are to succeed in serving our Lord in a manner that pleases Him. Those three illustrations are of a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer.
You therefore must endure hardship as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the
affairs of [this] life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. V.
3-4
When we consider the life of a soldier, one
of the first things that should become apparent is that by enlisting in the
army an individual is choosing to serve and obey the authority of his superiors. In effect, a soldier dedicates himself to
follow the orders of his superiors without question and ignoring anything or
anyone which might interfere with that mission.
I recall once visiting a military post with a friend and recognizing
someone I knew from school who was on guard duty that day. I called out a greeting to him and was
surprised when he did not even acknowledge it.
My friend explained that while on guard duty soldiers were forbidden to
do anything which might distract them from their assignment to guard.
"No one can serve two masters; for
either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the
one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24
NKJV
Paul uses the example of a soldier serving to
help us understand that we need to be committed to serving Christ to the point
that we do not allow even the cares of this life to distract us from that
service. The question for all of us to
answer is are we serving God with the sort of dedication which blocks out everything
else?
And also if anyone competes in athletics, he
is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. V. 5
I know I have mentioned before that I
participated in athletics for many years, and the one sport where I had the
most success was track and field. I was
fortunate enough to run the third leg of the quarter mile relay while in
college on a team that, at that particular time, was considered
overachievers. The relay race, like
others, has a set of rules that must be followed or you face the possibility of
disqualification. Not only must you not
step on the lines of your assigned lane, you must also pass the baton within a
marked zone which, if you are running as fast as you can, seems incredibly
short. When running on the curved part
of the track as I did, you could actually shorten the distance you ran by
running as close to the inside line as possible. My only talent, (I was not the fastest runner
on the team) was the ability to run along that inside line without touching it
and getting us all disqualified.
Do you not know that those who run in a race
all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain
[it]. 1 Corinthians 9:24 NKJV
Living a life that is pleasing to God
requires following the rules He has set before us. Do you discipline yourself daily to know and follow
those rules or have you chosen to simply ignore the ones you find “inconvenient”?
Paul explains we must live our lives
according to God’s commandments and I think you will find the world is full of
those who are watching you with the hope of seeing a mistake which gets you
disqualified.
The hardworking farmer must be first to
partake of the crops. V. 6
I live in an agricultural area which,
according to the experts, grows some of the best timothy hay in the world. So much so, that the vast majority of it is
exported to many countries outside of the United States. One of the things I noticed soon upon moving
here is just how hard and time consuming it is to raise a crop. Many of us are familiar with the old expression
“can see to can’t see” which describes the length of the day many farmers put
in. I can tell you for a fact that in
this part of the country “can see” is around 4:30 AM while “can’t see” is
around 9:30 PM. Right now the farmers
are cutting and baling the first cut of hay and if you are up at those times
you will find that they are already out in the fields working to get that hay
in.
The lazy [man] does not roast what he took in
hunting, But diligence [is] man's precious possession. Proverbs 12:27 NKJV
Paul says that because of his diligence, the
farmer is entitled to be the first to eat what he has produced. Do we as believers approach our service for
God with the same kind of diligence as a farmer does with his crop? Do we work from daylight to dark, or do we
take a little time off when we get tired or discouraged? May we all pray for the strength to work as
hard as God asks of us.Dedication, discipline, and diligence. Three qualities that Paul tells Timothy are necessary to be successful in a life committed to the service of our Father in heaven. If you have made the choice to accept the gift of salvation which God has provided for us, my prayer for all of us is that we will approach our lives for Him with these three necessary qualities.
Keep watching.
