Be Strong
By Jeff Cranston
Each year we celebrate July 4th with pomp and parades and shows and sports and games. And the sky is illuminated with fireworks from one end of the country to the other to commemorate this day of independence.
As we celebrate each year, we should remember the strong foundations on which this great nation was built and the strength of character of those who led us into freedom. We should take time to reflect on the accomplishments of those who went before us but more so on the great gifts of our heavenly Father. For it is only by His hand we were made free.
Read 2 Timothy 2:1-7. Our nation’s first leaders had strength and courage. And this is exactly what we find the apostle Paul calling forth from young pastor Timothy in verse 1: “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
If we’re going to survive the injustice and brutality of this world, not to mention the ordinary garden-variety sufferings we face, we need to be strengthened by the grace that’s in Christ Jesus. Every Christ-follower is called to be strong. And Paul gives some examples of how to be strong.
1. Be a strong teacher.
The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. – 2 Timothy 2:2
Paul told Timothy to take the very things he had heard Paul teach and pass them on to others. Paul is saying “Take the outline, take the rough sketch, take the pattern that I’ve laid out for you and download it into the lives of other people. Timothy, be a strong teacher.”
2. Be a strong soldier.
“Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” – 2 Timothy 2:3-4
Knowing they would be mowed down by German machine guns, the first soldiers off the landing craft at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, charged valiantly toward the shore. Those who miraculously made it began to climb the cliffs, knowing they were most likely climbing to their deaths. What would cause a man to hit the beach or to climb a cliff, knowing the odds of being gunned down were against him? Subsequent studies have shown that the heroes of D-Day did so out of respect and appreciation for their commanding officer and fellow soldiers.
Paul didn’t give Timothy 10 theological reasons why he should serve the Lord. Rather, he gave him only one: to please the commanding officer and fellow soldier who had laid down his life for him.
3. Be a strong athlete.
“Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.” – 2 Timothy 2:5
Paul quickly changes his analogy from warfare to athletics when he says, “You’re not going to get the gold medal if you break the rules.” So we, too, must know and abide by the principles found in the Scriptures.
4. Be a strong farmer.
The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. – 2 Timothy 2:6
After weeks or months of hard work, eventually, the farmer is the first to eat from the harvest. Servants of God also must think in terms of manual labor—being self-starters in planting, tilling, and harvesting— and future rewards. Farmers rise early and work late to put in the vineyard or orchard or tree farm from which they will not reap for years. It requires consistency and patience, in season and out, because missing a critical phase aborts crop yields altogether.
Paul is telling Timothy to wait patiently “Like a soldier, Timothy, please your commander,” said Paul. “Like an athlete, compete within the rules. Like a farmer be patient—and you will see fruit eventually.”
And then Paul throws in what I consider to be an extremely interesting verse … it almost appears as a side note to us, but it is replete with wisdom for us. “Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” – 2 Timothy 2:7
In this verse, we see a direct link between considering and understanding. “I don’t understand the Bible,” you might say. “I just can’t get it.” Have you ever slowed down and talked to the Lord about what you’re reading? Have you ever waited quietly for Him to inspire your thoughts and touch your heart? If you’ll wait on God, if you stop to consider, if you meditate on it, if you ask the Holy Spirit for His guidance, clarity, and help, the Lord promises to give understanding.
Here are a few applications for our lives that we can draw from all of these verses.
Align your life with the Spiritual Law of Faithfulness.
Remember in verse 2 when Paul said, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also”?
One of the keywords in that verse is the word faithful. A person who is faithful is one who is believing, one who is loyal, one who is reliable and may be depended upon. To be faithful means that you will not yield to persecution or to error. Our lives as Christ-followers are to be so rooted in Him that no threat of danger will lure us from the path of loyalty, and no seduction of false teaching will cause us to stray from the straight path of the truth of God’s Word. We must be steadfast in both our life and in our beliefs.
Align your life with the Spiritual Law of Obedience.
Spend any time, just a few miles from us here, on Parris Island, where they make Marines, and you will see that the early training of every Marine is designed to make him or her instinctively and unquestionably obedient to the word of command. There may come a time when such prompt and instinctive obedience may save his life and the life of others.
The first duty of every believer is obedience to the voice of God and acceptance even of that which we cannot understand.
Align your life with the Spiritual Law of Endurance.
Every great athlete knows discipline and self-denial. A rigorous training schedule must be adhered to; nothing must interfere with it. Consider the Olympians who will compete starting on July 23 – August 8 this year.
There are days when she would love to drop the training and relax the discipline, but she must not do it. There will be pleasures and indulgences which he would like to allow himself. but he must refuse them. There will be times when she’s tired and would like to stop. But ask any of the Olympians who will compete and they will tell you that when they think they can go no longer, they must go on for another lap, do another set, give it another 10 minutes.
The athletes who will stand on the podium this year know that they must allow nothing to interfere with that standard of physical fitness which they have set for themselves.
In a similar vein, there must be discipline in our Christian lives. There are times when we do not wish to pray. There are times when the easy way is very attractive. There are times when the right thing is the hard thing. There are times when we would like to relax our standards. But as Christians, we must train ourselves to never relax in our lifelong pursuit of following Jesus and to present to Him a soul, pure and strong.
Align your life with the Spiritual Law of Patience.
Every farmer must be content and accept the reality that you work first—and then you wait. The farmer, perhaps more than any other person, learns early that there are no such things as quick results. As Christ-followers, we too must learn to work and to wait.
Often, we must sow the good seed of the Word into the hearts and minds of others while knowing we will see no immediate results. Every teacher teaches away, giving it their all, and yet may see no discernable difference in those he or she teaches. A parent seeks to train and to guide, and yet sees no immediate difference in their son or daughter.
It is only when the years go by that the results are seen. Suddenly, he or she is faced with some sort of over-powering temptation, or some terrible decision is before him, or some intolerable effort is required of her, and then back into his or her mind there comes the Word of God, some flash of remembered teaching, some phrase dropped into the mind; and then after all the years of teaching and guidance, the discipline bears its fruit.
And the resulting decision brings honor, where without it, there would have been dishonor. It also brings salvation, where without it, there would have been utter ruin. The farmer learns to wait with patience, and so must the Christian.
One thing is apparent in all these pictures: the teacher, the soldier, the athlete and the farmer.
The teacher is upheld knowing others will take his or her place and continue to proclaim the good news.
The soldier is upheld by the thought of final victory and going home.
The athlete is upheld by the vision of the crown.
The farmer is upheld by the hope of the harvest.
Each submits to the discipline and the toil and the patience for the sake of the glory which is yet to be. It is so with every follower of Jesus. The Christian struggle is not a struggle without a goal; it is not a pointless effort. It is always going somewhere. We can be very certain that after the effort of the Christian life, there comes the sublime joy of Heaven and the struggle the greater the joy.
Jeff Cranston is the lead pastor of LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton, South Carolina.