The Reward of Endurance
2 Timothy 2:1-13
Writing from prison, his death imminent, Paul penned these words to Timothy. In this position, what words would you write? Would you write light-hearted, meaningless words? Or would you use this time to share those things that were most important to you?
Paul shared these deeply felt, critically important words of instruction with his spiritual son. He urged Timothy to be strong in grace – that is, to rely on God’s grace, not his own strength – and to pass along what he had learned to others. Paul spent much of his ministry mentoring Timothy, and now he urged Timothy to do the same.
Jesus’ own words to his disciples tell us that we are not just to witness and lead others to Christ, but are to “make disciples.” We are instructed to pour our lives into the lives of others, walking with them and teaching them to live the Christian life and to make disciples themselves. In addition, we should find someone, like Paul, to instruct and mentor us.
Paul also encouraged Timothy to endure, and he used several examples which Timothy (and we today) can identify with: a soldier, an athlete and a farmer. All three of these work hard, make sacrifices, follow the rules, and endure for the sake of the prize, whatever it may be.
There are those who teach that the Christian life is easy. Once you accept Christ and His salvation, life is smooth-sailing. But the Bible teaches the opposite. Paul reminds us that the Christian life is not always easy, but encourages us to work hard, study God’s Word and live according to His rules, keep our focus on Christ, remember and reach out to those who do not yet know Christ. We do this with the final prize in mind.
The last of the trustworthy sayings in these lessons is found in verses 11-13 of 2 Timothy 2, and is probably the text of an old hymn. If so, they obviously meant enough to Paul that he wanted to pass them along to Timothy, or remind him of the words.
They are words of great hope, especially in difficult times. They remind us that we have something to look forward to beyond this life we now live. For those of us who know Christ as Savior, we have eternal life – and we will not just live, but reign with Him in His kingdom. These verses also remind us of our Savior’s faithfulness to us. Even when we lose faith, or hope, when we have endured so much we believe we can endure no more, Jesus is faithful. That is a trustworthy saying that helps us endure to the end.
Register– Lessons in the BSL series for the winter quarter are being written by Laurie Register, executive director-treasurer of Woman’s Missionary Union, SCBC.