If
We Endure,
We
Will Also Reign
With Him
You then, my child, be strong in the
grace that is in Christ Jesus; and what you have heard from me through many
witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.
Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving in the
army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier's aim is to please the
enlisting officer. And in the case of an athlete, no one is crowned without
competing according to the rules. It is the farmer who does the work who ought
to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will
give you understanding in all things.
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the
dead, a descendant of David - hardship, even to the point of being chained like
a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything
for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is
in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. The saying is
sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we
will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are
faithless, he remains faithful - for he cannot deny himself.
2 Timothy 2:1-13
Paul used the image of a soldier who
serves with single-minded devotion to please his commanding officer. He wanted
Timothy to know the supreme reason for serving God, even when the going gets
tough. Wholehearted devotion, marked by hard work and careful attention to
God's rules, brings the greatest glory to the Lord when it comes from a yielded
and loving heart.
In His humanity, our Savior desired that
the prospect of a cruel death and of becoming the sin-offering for mankind
would pass from Him.
Others see what
we do, but God sees why we do it.
Our
Daily Bread -