“Thou therefore endure hardness (hardship) as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
In first and second Timothy Paul was giving his “son in the ministry-Timothy” some advice about enduring what he had to in order to serve Jesus Christ. Here he told Timothy to “endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” Another biblical word for endurance is perseverance. Both mean to keep on keeping on no matter what. This morning as I was doing my arm workouts, I thought to myself: “How much longer will I have to do this?” Then a little “still small voice” said: “You can quit doing this when you want flabby ‘grandpa arms’.” (Lest I lead you astray about my fitness, I will add – “flabbier than they already are.”) The idea is that there are disciplines that we must maintain if we want to stay fit. Things like lifting weights (Not "pumping iron" by any means.), walking on my treadmill, or riding my stationary bike, are disciplines that I have to maintain if i want to stay fit. These things seem like a hardship, but they are not really when I consider the good that they do for me. Of course, this got me to thinking about other disciplines in my life that are not necessarily hardships, but things that I must maintain if I am to stay spiritually fit. Remember, this is not just about me, but about you as well. There is the discipline of prayer. Every morning when I get up, I go to my place of prayer and pray for the people in my life, for the ill, for missionaries, etc. I don’t mean to be smug about this, but prayer “centers” me before I have to face whatever I have to face during the day. I want to recommend that you have a discipline of prayer as well. If you aren’t a morning person, you can find the time that is best suited for you, but do it. I know that we can pray any time during the day that we want to, but I have found that keeping this prayer vigil each morning is a help to me during the day. By the way, when I finish my prayer time in the morning I do not say “amen,” because I’m not finished praying for the day. Paul reminded us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing.” There is the discipline of Bible reading and Bible study. After my prayer time each morning, I read eight chapters from the Bible – two from the New Testament and six from the Old Testament. (The reason for this is that the Old Testament is much longer than the New Testament.) I made a commitment over thirty years ago to be in the process of reading the Bible through all of the time. This usually means in a year, but not necessarily. It is very important that you find time to read the word of God each day, and that you read it systematically. The Bible is not just a book of religious teachings; it is a book about God’s redemption. I strongly urge you to make a commitment to read your Bible every day. Paul gave Timothy, and us, this advice: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed , rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15' There are other disciplines that I could write about, but I think these two are the most important to us personally as we seek to grow in Christ. I wrote above that these disciplines are not necessarily hardships, like working out flabby arms, but they can seem that way if we aren’t careful. Satan will do anything to keep us from our prayer closets and from the Bible. He trembles when we pray and when we read the Bible. Satan wants us to think that all spiritual disciplines are hardships, and not as pleasant to our senses as some other things that we could do. But listen to the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit, who will urge you endure in spite of the temptation to surrender the time that you spend in prayer and Bible study. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to live a victorious Christian life without incorporating prayer and Bible reading into your daily routine. Bro. Joe
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|