2 Timothy 2:1-7 "Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don't get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules. And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor. Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you understand all these things."
Paul is reminding Timothy to use God’s word and what the Spirit has put on his heart to share with people the importance of knowing God. We shouldn’t test people with any other standard than God’s word when it comes to teaching how to live a Christian life.
*Warren Wiersbe writes, “The ministry is not something we get for ourselves and keep to ourselves. We are stewards of the spiritual treasure God has given us. It is our responsibility to guard the deposit and then invest it in the lives of others. They, in turn, are to share the word with the next generation of believers.”
Paul is teaching that faithfulness is vital to teaching the truth of Jesus Christ. And here are three great examples to show this: A Soldier. An Athlete. A hardworking Farmer.
First The Soldier. The soldier shows that there will be spiritual warfare and that their lives need to be focused on one thing and that is what Jesus did. verse 4 says, “Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officers who enlisted them.” (The military has had that kind of loyalty since we can remember and it even amazed Jesus.)
Read Matthew chapter 8 verses 5-9 "But the officer said, 'Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, Go, and they go,or Come, and they come. And if I say to you slaves, Do this, they do it."
The second was The Athlete. Paul uses this because it was a big part of the times in the region and it took much training because you could not be crowned without following all the rules that were laid out. *If the athlete was found defective in any manner, he was disqualified from competing. (Can you see why it is so important that we embrace our relationship with God and pray and seek wisdom from the incredible resources He has given us?)
Lastly the hardworking farmer: The key is hardworking (this is a person that is laboring toward Christ learning all they can. They are patient and steadfast.)
*The devil will try and derail us but as hard working people we feel the power of the Holy Spirit and that will play a part in what fruit we have.
Read Hebrew 10:36 "Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that He has promised." The ultimate things we can do to get understanding is praying, talking to God, opening His word and listening to the spirit. (All these are helpful ways to grow and impact this world for Christ, and that is what we all need to desire to do in Christ.) When we desire it our lives are full of joy and peace even I the crazy moments but when we feel the need to do it, it is a laboring task for us and we are easily distracted to do anything else. Ex. Sleeping, working, kids events, anything we can think of.
Ending thoughts:
We are all soldiers for Christ and it is so exciting to do all we can to shine. (Conscience hard labor is necessary before a farmer can enjoy a bountiful harvest.)
1. The challenge is that we are like the soldier, the athlete and the hardworking farmer as we grow daily.
Write down the steps that you will do as you change and develop these three areas of your lives. *seeing it is beneficial.*
*Laziness cannot be a character trait of the faithful Christian.*
Paul is reminding Timothy to use God’s word and what the Spirit has put on his heart to share with people the importance of knowing God. We shouldn’t test people with any other standard than God’s word when it comes to teaching how to live a Christian life.
*Warren Wiersbe writes, “The ministry is not something we get for ourselves and keep to ourselves. We are stewards of the spiritual treasure God has given us. It is our responsibility to guard the deposit and then invest it in the lives of others. They, in turn, are to share the word with the next generation of believers.”
Paul is teaching that faithfulness is vital to teaching the truth of Jesus Christ. And here are three great examples to show this: A Soldier. An Athlete. A hardworking Farmer.
First The Soldier. The soldier shows that there will be spiritual warfare and that their lives need to be focused on one thing and that is what Jesus did. verse 4 says, “Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officers who enlisted them.” (The military has had that kind of loyalty since we can remember and it even amazed Jesus.)
Read Matthew chapter 8 verses 5-9 "But the officer said, 'Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, Go, and they go,or Come, and they come. And if I say to you slaves, Do this, they do it."
The second was The Athlete. Paul uses this because it was a big part of the times in the region and it took much training because you could not be crowned without following all the rules that were laid out. *If the athlete was found defective in any manner, he was disqualified from competing. (Can you see why it is so important that we embrace our relationship with God and pray and seek wisdom from the incredible resources He has given us?)
Lastly the hardworking farmer: The key is hardworking (this is a person that is laboring toward Christ learning all they can. They are patient and steadfast.)
*The devil will try and derail us but as hard working people we feel the power of the Holy Spirit and that will play a part in what fruit we have.
Read Hebrew 10:36 "Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that He has promised." The ultimate things we can do to get understanding is praying, talking to God, opening His word and listening to the spirit. (All these are helpful ways to grow and impact this world for Christ, and that is what we all need to desire to do in Christ.) When we desire it our lives are full of joy and peace even I the crazy moments but when we feel the need to do it, it is a laboring task for us and we are easily distracted to do anything else. Ex. Sleeping, working, kids events, anything we can think of.
Ending thoughts:
We are all soldiers for Christ and it is so exciting to do all we can to shine. (Conscience hard labor is necessary before a farmer can enjoy a bountiful harvest.)
1. The challenge is that we are like the soldier, the athlete and the hardworking farmer as we grow daily.
Write down the steps that you will do as you change and develop these three areas of your lives. *seeing it is beneficial.*
*Laziness cannot be a character trait of the faithful Christian.*
RSS Feed
