Great Discipline

Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.  Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor's crown except by competing according to the rules.  The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.  Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. ~ 2 Timothy 2:3-7

Great trust, discipline, perseverance, and dedication is needed for the eternal reward we are promised at the end of this life.  There are some rewards worth the hard work and suffering and being with Jesus Christ for eternity is well worth the price.  What hard work and suffering?  Well, you are going to have to be different; you can not worry about what others think, or say; you have to show love, mercy and grace even when it’s hard.  You will have to keep your moral wits about you and play by God’s rules; not the world’s rules. You’re going to have to love others that don’t agree with you, but still hold firm.  You can not think like the world thinks…..you must be different.  Worldly suffering is often a test to help us put our trust in God; whose timing and ways about doing things does not always make sense, but in the end maybe we will get a glimmer of understanding.  The Christian soldier should want nothing more in life than to win others for Jesus and want to please no one more than Jesus Christ.  I don’t want to live as the world lives; I want to live according to how Christ has instructed me by hopefully leading a selfless life full of love for others first.  The goal is to show love, grace and mercy while finishing the race Christ has laid out for me.  I want to win the gift of salvation not only for myself, but I want to take my family and friends with me!  Following Jesus’ way in this broken world may prove to be hard, but there will be more to gain in the end than I can see with my eyes now.  In the same way an athlete trains I must train myself to go hard after the prize of salvation and not be ashamed of the gospel.  Putting Christ at the head of my life and loving others as Jesus does so that I can hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”  There is so much planting that needs to be done and while the work seems overwhelming, God promises us a harvest if we keep planting.  Let’s press on like the good soldier, competitive athlete and hardworking farmer and keep our eyes on the prize! ~ Amen