"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 ESV
"You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him." 2 Timothy 2:1-4 ESV
"In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good." Ecclesiastes 11:6 ESV
God is a King and a Father. He has a will and a battle plan. He wants his soldiers and his civilians to live.
Grace is the channel that love and all it's attributes are expressed. The battle field is in the mind. It is the soul. Jesus came to seek and save that which is lost so that those lost people would be found and saved alive. Grace will bring the love that saves them.
"But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 1 Timothy 6:11-12 ESV
We are armed with the Gospel. Idleness will kill us. Our moving feet allow us to dodge death.
"He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." Isaiah 2:4 ESV
If I am armed with the right weapons I can not harm my fellow soldiers with friendly fire.
"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10 ESV
God... govern us with Your love today. Let grace and mercy remove any hindrances in our mind or soul. Give us objective insight into Your battle plan God. We are not our own. We need You to lead us to the green pastures and the lost sheep. Give us ears to hear Your leading.
Looking at 2 Timothy 2 verses 3 and 4 in the Greek.
ReplyDelete- 'Endure Hardness' is Kakopatheō (G2553) and it is a combinations of two words Kakos (G2556) and Pathos (G3806) and it is in the Aorist Active Imperative. In is a command to cope with the emotions that come from fallen circumstances in a prolonged way.
- 'Good Soldier' is Kalos (G2570) and Stratiōtēs (G4757). Kalos is not good in a qualitative way like good versus bad. It actually speaks of beauty or possessing the best qualities of something. The word for soldier here basically a 'grunt' not an officer. Officers are policy makers and grunts make things happen. They implement the policy set by another.
Like an athlete who pushes through the pain in training to attain a level of excellence. We push through the contradiction of fallen life as people submitted under the will of the One who loves.
If we discern warfare we will not be a person who 'entangles himself with the affairs of this life'
- Emplekō (G1707) Pragmateia (G4230) Bios (G979) means to interweave the affairs of the natural life into our decision making.
Now we have an allegiance to a cause... we do the will of the Sovereign who included us in the ranks of his army. In this case Jesus Christ. His cause becomes our cause. His army is a brotherhood of grace givers. Our freedom is the freedom to act as a member in particular.
God's sovereignty is what holds the world together in order. It makes nature's 'trains run on time'. There would be chaos without it. God does what He determines best without anyone the input of anyone else. What he does lasts because it is backed by power.
Letting Christ mind be in us is what God the King wants. That is being a model soldier. Thinking with God in freedom and walking with God by faith in a crazy world. Living in grace as we are led by the Spirit is our primary obedience. His character and nature manifested in us and through us is implementing the policy set by the One who enlisted us.
It's not a work... It's a faith walk. Amazing.