The Place to Be #85

 

II Timothy 2:1You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

As we have seen, in chapter 1 Paul has called Timothy to follow his own example, and that of others, who have not been ashamed of the Gospel nor any struggles which might come with being Christ's servant - including imprisonment, in the case of Paul. He now gives him three exhortations. He was to be strengthened by the grace of God in Christ, share the truth of the gospel with other men who in turn would share it with others, and be willing to suffer for the sake of the Gospel.  Paul then gives Timothy three examples of other situations where workers needed strength and struggled to reach their goals: Soldiers trained hard and endured dangerous situations that took them away from home in terrible conditions; athletes also went through rigorous training and submitted themselves to "rules" in order to win the contest; farmers worked long, hard hours every day in order to accomplish a meaningful harvest. In the same way, the servant of God must work hard in difficult situations on a consistent basis to see the Gospel go forth and change lives.