“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” (2 Timothy 2:3, 4)
I miss military life. Oh sure, it was hard and I complained all the time. But that’s human nature. We were up at 0 dark thirty in the morning doing exercises and running, followed by showering and breakfast. Then it was off to work. That is how we looked at it. We had a job – one job: the defense of our country. Our mission was simple although it looked different at times. Sometimes we were doing the work of humanitarians in the name of the United States Army. Other times we were freedom-fighters (sometimes training the locals in whatever country we found ourselves). There were a few times when we were in full combat. But our clothes were provided for us, our meals were cooked for us, medical attention (though sometimes barbaric in nature) was given as needed. All we truly needed was provided by the government in exchange for pledging our lives to the mission.
It is hard to find that arrangement in civilian life. The closest thing to it is to become an ambassador for the United States. As as ambassador, you have no opinion of your own – you speak only what your government tells you to speak, you do only what they direct you to do, and you go where they tell you to go. In exchange for this, everything is provided – food, clothing, housing, travel, medical, and a good income.
Perhaps that is why Paul uses these two images so much in his writings. We are called ambassadors for Christ in the world. We have no opinion on homosexuality, abortion, stealing, lying, etc. We speak only what our government tells us. We do only what our Commander directs us to do. We go where He sends us and live according to His provision. When asked about an issue, we turn to our Leader for an answer and say only what He says. Remember when Jesus said “I do only what I see my Father do” and “I say what I hear my Father say.” In exchange for our pledge of allegiance to Jehovah God, He promises to provide all we need.
In our text today, Paul wrote that we are to endure hardness as a good soldier. Did I like getting up before the crack of dawn and jogging in formation for 5-10 miles? No! Did I like doing pushups and situps before I had even had my first cup of coffee? What, are you crazy? But was I strong, lean, mean, and disciplined? You’d better believe it! Paul went on to write that a good soldier doesn’t become entangled in the affairs of this world in order that he or she might fight the good fight of faith unhindered. I think of all our soldiers who fell in love with Vietnamese women during the war. The same with the Korean women and others. I have no condemnation of our boys and girls in the service for doing this. I get it. But when it came time to perform their duties at the command of the military, they had to be at least a little bit conflicted because of these romantic entanglements. And the worlding Paul used shows that it will be difficult. That’s why he wrote we must endure…
I have lost SO MUCH discipline since I returned from the Army. For a few years I still got up at 0600 and ran 5 miles, did my daily dozen exercises, and maintained my posture. However, over the years I have lost that motivation. Call it lazy, call it old age, call it what you will. I couldn’t do fifty pushups now if you held a gun to my head. I can’t even jog a block without the assistance of an ambulance. I have gotten sloppy.
Unfortunately, sometimes that loss of discipline has leaked over into my spiritual life. I have gotten fat and sloppy in my Bible study time. I have gotten lazy in my prayer time. I have lost my concentration and endurance when it comes to just sitting before God to hear from Him. It’s so much easier to just make my own plans and decisions, then ask Him to bless them. I don’t think I’m alone in this condition. How sad.
It is time, my friend, for us as Christians to begin working discipline back into our lives again. It may be time for a good, old-fashioned re-up ceremony in the Body of Christ. In the military we signed up for another 3 year term – we pledge our full allegiance to the government for another three years in exchange for all the pay and benefits. We swore that for the next three years we would think nothing, do nothing, be nothing except what the government demanded from us. Jesus Christ calls us to give Him our lives permanently, forever. There is no expiration date, there is no ETS date on our contract. It is eternal. But over time, it is easy to forget the terms of our covenant with Him. Perhaps a reminder is in order.
Today I challenge you (and myself) to sit down with God and His Word to rediscover what it is He is asking us to do for Him. How we are to represent Him in this world (this foreign land). What missions has He laid out for us to participate in today? He has already made it quite clear that if we will put His kingdom and His righteousness first that everything we need will be provided for us. Every thing. Have a private one-on-one meeting with the Commader today, my friend. Get it settled that you are in this for the long haul. Then go forth and have dominion as a good soldier and ambassador for Jesus Christ.
Be blessed.
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