Hardworking Farmer

This is the third and final part of the devotional series Be Strong.

2 Timothy 2:6-9

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You then, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul gives us three examples of ways to be strong, to be focused like a soldier, to compete according to the rules, to cross train like an athlete. And now he gives us one more example in verse six of Second Timothy, chapter two.

The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. (2 Timothy 2:6-7)

To be strong, Jesus gives us this encouragement. Work hard. And apply that to yourself. And as you do that, maybe just think about your Christian life and think about what would it look like if I was working harder? If I was working like a farmer who just needed to put in the time to be able to see the results? Now that can be a dangerous thing for us because, like all people, we want to put that pressure on to ourselves and say, if I just work a little bit harder then things will go better and I’ll accomplish more, and it can be absolutely exhausting. So we need to remember to stay strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ.

The only way to have power to go out and work hard in our Christian life is to look at and be inspired by, and to know our Savior, Jesus, who came in and spread seeds of the gospel like a hard working farmer who went to the cross, even giving his life unto death to be able to forgive all of our sins who came and worked hard in this world so that we can work without pressure and work with joy, knowing that we’re doing that for the Lord. And then God gives us some promises first, and then some more encouragement after that, as we do that.

The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. (2 Timothy 2:6)

There’s some neat blessings that happen when you go out and share Christ with people and share your lives with them. Sometimes you get to see the crops grow. There’s just incredible joy. As a pastor, I probably get to have a front row seat at this more than some people, but to be able to see the lights go on for somebody as they realize that, wait a second, there’s no hard work that I have to do to earn my salvation to get into God’s good grace? No, nothing. Jesus did it all for you. When you get to share the love of Christ with others and see them start to understand it, see them change their life, see them start working hard for Jesus too, that is an incredible blessing.

So how do we do that? Well, verse eight of this section is so beautiful. It says,

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, (2 Timothy 2:8)

Remember Jesus, remember who he is, your Savior, who took your place on the cross. Remember who he is. A true human descended from David, the King of the universe, descended from King David, raised from the dead. Did not stay dead, but rose again to prove that his victory is yours. To prove the heaven is yours. That’s the gospel. The good news for which I’m suffering. There’s there’s still going to be suffering in this world, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. The Apostle Paul is in prison at this time. But, listen up. God’s word is not chained. (2 Timothy 2:9)

You go out working hard like a farmer, casting seeds recklessly. And you know that God’s powerful word that you’re sharing is just that. It is not chained down. We just do the easy job of sharing his message. And God does the extraordinary, miraculous work of changing people’s hearts. So my prayer for myself and for you is let’s work hard, and by God’s grace, he’ll show us some exciting results.