Dear Church Family,
“You, therefore, must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Tim. 2:3-4).
At a Sunday School meal and fellow-ship held by Ken and Debbie Williams’ class, I was blessed to enjoy many good conversations (it was great to be able to get back together and enjoy a meal–especially fried fish!). One of those conversations was with Dusty Pearson and in visiting with him, Dusty reminisced briefly about his time in military service in the Middle East. In that brief talk, I was reminded about how different life is for those deployed by the military into hostile areas.
The next day, reflecting on the converation, the verses above came to my mind. I was meditating on revival, and what it would take for our church to experience revival. The thought hit me that our focus needs to be like the focus of a soldier. A soldier’s thoughts aren’t on the pleasures and pursuits of this world. Instead, his focus is on the mission, and on the order of his commanding officer. On some occasions, the soldier’s focus is on the life and death struggles of war.
Paul tells Timothy (and us!) that serving the Lord Jesus Christ requires a focus on carrying out the orders of our Lord. He is the one who has enlisted us as a soldier. His orders are to get the gospel out to the world! Paul also tells Timothy (and us!) that we are not to allow our focus to get entangled in the matters of this world. And it is clear that there will be costs, even hardships and afflictions (2 Tim. 4:5).
Church, we have to ask ourselves: do we want to see revival, and are we will-ing to pay the costs of entering spiritual battle for the souls of men?
In Christian love,
John