Basic Training
2 Timothy 2:1-4 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 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.
The apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy is one of encouragement; one that is likely Paul’s last words to his protege, his son in the faith who had been by his side from Paul’s second missionary trip on. Paul had poured his heart into Timothy, he had stretched the boundaries of what Timothy thought he could do at a young age. Paul knew he had the upbringing and the capability of being a great leader in the church for Christ. Paul knew Timothy would make a good soldier for Christ. Here he reminds him of those struggles that will come to face a soldier for Christ. He is not only telling him to teach, and to delegate, but to remain focused. Soldiers must have a keen eye or focus on the mission at hand; Timothy’s mission was to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all that he encountered. Satan in the spiritual warfare that is the Christian life, brings all that he can to distract one’s eye from the mission at hand. Paul was consistently urging believers to remain focused on the eternal; he wrote in Colossians 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Timothy understood these things for he had been with Paul and known first hand the troubles that came as a soldier of Christ.
Today is Veterans Day; the day we salute those who have served our country in the military forces. Many have paid the ultimate price for their service with their lives. One thing is assured; very early in all of their basic training is instilled the necessity of a focused mind. Seeing the goal of the mission at hand; doing whatever it takes to accomplish the mission, no matter what the difficulties or the cost. A well trained soldier is like a machine with only the ability to accomplish the tasks at hand. Is that your mindset when it comes to your faith? Do you waiver when the going gets tough and see the distraction in front of you? Are you able to keep the mindset of a soldier and endure the distraction and press onward and upwards towards the goal? Being a soldier for Christ means you will suffer with him. Listen how Paul points to the promises to those that remain focused: 2 Timothy 2:10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful–for he cannot deny himself. (ESV) When the going gets tough, remember your basic training; focus on the eternal.
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