Today’s Thoughts – 11 December 2020

Endure

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ

The result of preaching and teaching the Word of God will be hardness. The fact that Paul was writing to Timothy from the prison cell is proof enough that there will be persecution, suffering, and hardness for proclaiming the Gospel.

Yet, Paul tells us to endure it! Don’t quit or give up. Instead, endure the hardness, suffering, and persecution like a good soldier. We are soldiers and our battles are spiritual (Ephesians 6:12-13).

A marine doesn’t leave the corps in the midst of battle because “it’s too hard” or “I can’t handle it.” A marine fights and fights until there is nothing left. We must endure whatever the world, the flesh, and the devil throw at us so that we can reach some with the Gospel and fulfill the will of God.

Entangle

No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life

In keeping with the illustration of the soldier that is going off to battle, that soldier doesn’t tell his commanding officer that he has some errands to run in the local township and will not be able to make it to battle this time. That soldier would be discharged from the service and sent home packing – a disgrace to their nation.

How is it that Christians can get off with that exact same mentality? “I cannot make it to church because I’ll be busy with…” We allow the world to creep into our lives and entangle us. We must be like a soldier and have singleness of mind. A soldier focuses on the battle, not on things outside the battlefield. We must focus on God and what He has for us, not on the things and situations around us in the world.

The word “entangle” means “to weave in.” We weave the world in and out of our lives like a wicker basket. Instead, let us be separate from the world, clean and holy before the Lord (Isaiah 52:11). And by doing so, we can focus on what God wants us to focus on, not the things of this world.

Please

That he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier

By enduring the spiritual battles of life and the attacks of those around us and not entangling (or weaving) ourselves together with the world, we have the opportunity to please our Lord and Saviour, much like a soldier has the opportunity to please their commanding officer by focusing on the battle and following their orders.

We have an order from God to “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). We have an order to endure while preaching. We have an order to be separated unto God. And if we obey these orders, we will please our Commanding Officer. And by walking like Jesus walked and pleasing God with our lives, we will abound more and more (1 Thessalonians 4:1)