We are to be good soldiers of Jesus

Today I will breifly cover some verses in the great book of 2 Timothy. Below you will see what we will discuss today:

"Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."
                                -2 Timothy 2:3-4 KJV-

What a great set of verses. Lets take a look at how these might apply to the believer.

First what does Paul tell Timothy here?

He says that as a good soldier we must endure hardness or better said we must endure pain, suffering, trial, training. These are all true of the faithful soldiers that fight our wars abroad and at home today for the USA.

So as a good soldier of Christ we should expect to suffer hardships much the same as our Commander in Cheif, Jesus himself, suffered.

So why should we do this?

There are two reason Paul tells us above:

1. The first is vitally important in this day and age. We suffer so that we do not become entangled or attached to the things of this world. No doubt Hollywood is all about glitz and glamor of life. The more the better. New Coach hand bag, sure! New Maseratti, no problem!

But to the soldier of Christ these things can cause us to lose our focus in the battle of the gospel. Ask any soldier of our own country if they were to think about things back home in the middle of taking enemy fire would they expect to survive. Almost all would tell they would certainly be dead.

Why?

Simply because in the heat of the battle there mind was elsewhere. They got sloppy, lazy, forgetful and that stray bullet that usually would miss its hidden target found it because that soldier was thinking about home and not more about concealing his position.

The same applies for the soldier of the gospel. If we are all wrapped up in the latest gossip about Jon and Kate Gosselin then we will be less wrapped up in the gospel. That means that the people who most need to hear the word won't hear it at all. Fix your minds on the combat of the gospel and not the world!

2. The second reason and quite frankly the most important spiritually is that when we suffer and put aside the things of this world for the things of God we please Him who called us. If for no other reason you do something do it for the King of all Kings!

I hope these verses give you some perspective on the battle we face as good soldiers of the Lord when spreading his good news to the lost.

Reach out and share it with someone today, God Bless friends!