Among the many
instructions which came from Paul the apostle to his “dearly
beloved son” Timothy was to “be strong in the grace that
is in Christ Jesus” and to “commit to faithful men”
what he “heard” from Paul. Paul's desire for Timothy was
to “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” as
he began the first of three examples of the way he should conduct his
life. In chapter two and verse four of this final letter from Paul,
Paul warns Timothy about entangling “himself with the
affairs of this life” where we
read:
that he
may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier.
The verse begins, “No
man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this
life;”
After charging Timothy to “endure
hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”,
Paul shares a specific characteristic of a “soldier”.
He wrote, “No man that wars”
or “person who to makes a military expedition, leads soldiers to
war or to battle, conducts military
duties, or is on active service” “entangles
himself” which means “inweave or entwines
himself” “with the affairs”
or “business, occupation, transactions and negotiations” “of
this life” which refers to “the period
and course of living”. In other words, the business of daily
civilian living is left behind by a soldier when he goes to battle.
The verse continues,
“that he may please him who has
chosen him to be a soldier.”
Paul went on to add the reason the “man
that wars”
does not “entangle himself with the
affairs of this life”
- “that he may please”
which means “to accommodate one's self to the opinions, desires and
interests of others” “him who has
chosen him to be a soldier”
which is all one Greek word “stratologeō”
that means “to gather and collect
an army or enlist soldiers by a commander”. The “good
soldier” does what pleases his commander,
and whatever business or “affairs of this
life” he must lay aside to please the one
who chose him, he will willingly do for the sake of his duty.
While we take
the time to think through these words of Paul, we may or may not have
ever known the duties of a “soldier”. We are at least
aware of the civilian duties and privileges they lay aside to fulfill
their responsibilities, and we understand how they must not “entwine”
themselves with distractions that keep them from fulfilling their
mission. Paul's exhortation to Timothy should be ours as well. Too
often we can allow the “affairs of this life” to distract
us from our responsibilities as Christians. A good measure for our
involvements is, “What will be the eternal effect of what we are
doing?” In other words, would our activities be classified
“temporary” or “eternal”, and are they according to this life
only or will they have everlasting effects? Let us allow the Lord
Jesus to show us where we are “entangled” in “the affairs of
this life”, and may He point us to ways and activities which
will last forevermore.
Next
time Paul shares about “striving for masteries”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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