May 23, 2025

2 Timothy 2:1-7   (HCSB)
Be Strong in Grace
2 You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the recruiter. 5 Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer ought to be the first to get a share of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

Israel Brooks
Focus can determine the path. When I was learning to drive, I remember the instructor telling me not to focus on the light poles or I would end up wrapped around one. Jesus talks a lot about finances and money in the Bible, but it is never the concentration of His kingdom. Yet often it is our concentration. Many spend a lifetime longing for what they don’t have, instead of rejoicing in what they do have in Christ. We want to be a “good solder of Christ Jesus,” but we try to avoid “suffering.” Suffering here is being disciplined in the things of Christ to yield results for Him. In Luke 9:23, Jesus calls each of us to deny ourself, take up our cross and follow Him. Instead of getting “entangled in civilian affairs,” which is regularly where our focus is, a good soldier focuses on “pleasing his commanding officer.” Not self. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death. Everything else is just, well, it is less, it is inferior, it is garbage, it is waste, it is excrement.