(David Friel)
2 Timothy 2: 1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. … 3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
In this letter written to Timothy, the apostle Paul tries to motivate him and encourage him to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and to not go astray or quit and give up. He lets Timothy know that as a follower of Jesus Christ, he will not have it easy. As a matter of fact, Jesus Christ explained that HIMSELF to HIS disciples in John 15:18-20, 16:1-5:
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 … If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. … 1 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.
Bottom line: if the people of Jesus Christ’s day treated HIM so horribly, why should those who say they follow HIM today expect any better? As they treated the Master so they will treat HIS servants.
So Paul tells Timothy that he must be strong in the grace we are given through Jesus Christ. Paul gives an example of GOD’s grace in 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Christians can expect persecution and hardship, but we have GOD’s guarantee that HE will also make a way out for us, even unto death. That’s GOD’s part of the deal.
Our part of the relationship with Jesus Christ requires us to be just as faithful to HIM as best as we can. I say as best as we can because we could never match the level of love, faithfulness and holiness of the LORD, especially while living in this world in these bodies. As Jesus Christ is fully dedicated to keeping us, we are to be fully dedicated to serving HIM. The writer tells us in Psalm 119:1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD! 2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart! 3 They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways. 4 You have commanded us To keep Your precepts diligently.
GOD’s people are called to serve HIM with our whole hearts. Anything less will cause a problem (Luke 16:13). As Paul wrote Timothy, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” A Christian soldier won’t be able to perform 100% for his commander if he is engaged in things that have nothing to do with HIS war. When a soldier enlists, he is expected to leave civilian life behind. When a person turns it over completely to Jesus Christ, we are expected to leave the old life (habits, often times friends, etc.) behind (Romans 12:1-2). These things cannot come with us, or they will drag us down.
As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Evil company corrupts good habits.” I’ve heard people use the phrase about “bad habits rubbing off .” One would think it common sense that hanging around bad company will lead to a bad influence, but many times we Christians (especially new Christians) make the mistake of thinking that after we become Saved that we can still socialize with the same group of people or spend time at the same places (or listen to the same music, watch the same kind of movies, etc.). If the company we keep or the things we do, do not line up with the things of Jesus Christ, then there is going to be a problem… and soon enough a conflict in our hearts.
As followers of Jesus Christ we have to leave the old man/woman behind, as we read in Ephesians 4:22 … put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 … put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Often times this is hard to do — to just simply drop old habits and friends. But as the writer testifies in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It may be a struggle at first, but Jesus Christ will get us over that hump and to a point where we have no desire to look back. We eventually get to the point where we are glad we have escaped those things and are ashamed of our old selves and the things we used to take pleasure in.
Sometimes it’s even folks who call themselves Christians whom we have to drop and leave behind. Not everyone who calls him/herself a Christian is truly dedicated to Jesus Christ. They are many people good at faking it. In 1 Corinthians 5:11 Paul writes, “… I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner-not even to eat with such a person.” The Holy Spirit, though Paul, exhorts us to not even sit down to break bread fake Christians.
So let us remember to be like the soldier or the athlete and wholly dedicate ourselves to the task at hand and cling to the guidelines that GOD has given us for serving HIS Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ.
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