Twin City church of Christ Blog
“Dec 19, 2024 - Soldiers, Athletes, and Farmers”
Categories: 2024 Reading DevotionalsSoldiers, Athletes, and Farmers
Reading: 2 Timothy 2:1-13
Paul continues to encourage Timothy to overcome his fear. “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 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”(2 Tim 2:1-2). Knowing that suffering is coming (2 Tim 2:3), Timothy needs to prepare for the possibility that others will need to carry on teaching tasks in his absence. Just as Paul taught him, he teaches other faithful men, who then go on to teach others. The messengers change and die, but the message multiplies.
Three images dominate this section: soldiers, athletes, and farmers. “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him”(2 Tim 2:3-4). Soldiers embrace suffering as part of their duty; Timothy must learn to think of himself as a dedicated soldier of Jesus. “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules”(2 Tim 2:5). Even remarkable athletes do not receive a prize if they fail to compete in the time and way prescribed; Timothy must seek the prize by focusing on God’s expectation for him. “It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops”(2 Tim 2:6). Farmers eat what they grow as the fruit of their labor. Paul occasionally uses this picture to argue that preachers deserve pay for their work (1 Cor 9:7). I suspect that here he means that as Timothy teaches others to serve Jesus despite suffering, so he will suffer too. He must prepare himself to experience first what other Christians will endure after him. Meanwhile, Paul himself is in a similar position, bound in chains but passing the word on to others (2 Tim 2:9).
Soldiers, athletes, and farmers all demonstrate dedication, discipline, and diligence. They work hard to achieve important goals. They suffer, but they suffer for a purpose. God wants us to embrace the challenge of living for him and see the nobility of wholehearted service.
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One Thing to Think About: Am I “entangled in civilian pursuits”?
One Thing to Pray For: Diligence to keep serving Jesus, even when it’s hard
