Faithful Endurance

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   This week has been a challenging week for many of us for a variety of reasons. Certainly, a number of people are still processing the news of the murder of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was killed this past Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University. I know my parents, who held Charlie in high regard, took the news quite hard. Some people are dealing with challenges a bit closer to home, difficulties of a more personal nature. Maybe you are seeing that there is more month at the end of the money, or age seems to be catching up with you. Regardless, we notice We don't like it, but we come to realize that life is just plain hard.

   Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:3-7, "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. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything." Paul uses three different groups of people here to illustrate one particular principle. Each of these three activities have one thing in common, they require patient endurance in the presence of hardship for the purpose of seeking some future reward. The soldier longs to please the one who recruited him; the athlete look for the prize at the end of the race; and the farmer seeks the produce at the end of the season. All three must do the right thing the right way in order to receive the right reward.

   As Christians, we have been summoned into service as soldiers who are to carry the message of hope to a dark and hopeless world. Yet we do not struggle against people, but we are engaged in a spiritual battle (see Ephesians 6:10-27). As those engaged in the race, we cast aside everything that would keep us from being faithful. We seek the ultimate prize which is Christ Himself (see Hebrews 12:1-3). As those who are called to broadcast broadly the Word of God, we scatter the seed, trusting the Lord to bring about the proper growth in His time (see Luke 8:5-8, ll-15). Let's take a lesson from the faithfulness of the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer and strive to remain faithful through the difficult times, seeking that reward that is beyond our sight, the reward from the One who called us.