Like a Good Soldier

This is part one of a Three Part Devotional called Be Strong. The next parts will be posted in the coming weeks.

2 Timothy 2:1,3-4,7

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This is part one of a Three Part Devotional called Be Strong. The next parts will be posted in the coming weeks.

How do you get strong? Now, if you look at me, I’m probably not the guy to answer that. I’m not doing a whole lot of weight lifting. But you’ll see that I am holding a Bible, and God’s Word gives us some encouragement on how to be strong. I want to just take a few devotions and look at Second Timothy chapter two, where the Apostle Paul writes to this young Christian, this young pastor Timothy, and he starts out by saying,

You then, my son, be strong… in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:1)

But that’s not all that he says. He says,

…be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:1)

And that’s what we’ll see as we look at this. The way for a Christian to be strong is to dig deeper and deeper into the undeserved love of Jesus, and appropriate that to ourselves and live in God’s love. He’s going to give three different examples here of how a Christian can be strong. So today we’ll look at this first one. He says,

Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

And at the end of each of these illustrations, he’s going to say,

Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. (2 Timothy 2:7)

So that’s what I want to do today, to reflect on that. What would it be like to be strong by serving like a soldier trying to please his commanding officer, not getting entangled in civilian affairs? I think what Paul is getting at here is that we have a single minded focus. What would it look like to have a single minded focus in your Christian life? To avoid being distracted by all kinds of other things that come up, whether it’s sinful temptations or just good things that take us away from really a focus on Christ and His grace and his forgiveness?

So we act like a soldier. And as we do that, we recognize that Jesus gives us the weapons, the armor, the means to do that. Back in Ephesians six, it talks about how as we go out as a soldier with a single minded focus on Christ, we’re struggling against not other people, but against Satan and against his demons. But he gives us the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit. Jesus has clothed you with his breastplate of his righteousness. He’s given you his perfect life as a gift. He sees you as holy and perfect, and he gives you one weapon. And it’s not political influence. It’s not weapons or guns, but it’s the sword of the spirit. He gives you his powerful word, that very grace that rescued you and focused your mind on him, is the thing that will rescue others.

So be strong and go into battle like a single minded, focused soldier of Christ.