The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 25 November 2019 – Persevere
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TOPIC: Persevere
READ: 2 TIMOTHY 2:1-13 (NKJV)
1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
6 The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops.
7 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.
8 Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel,
9 for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained.
10 Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
11 This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him.
12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
THE MESSAGE:
To persevere means to continue trying to do or achieve something in spite of difficulties. It is crucial for us as Christians to be determined to win. We must be ready to fight until hell freezes over. In verses 3-6 of our text, three suggestive illustrations are used to encourage Timothy in various aspects of his work. All three, the soldier, the athlete and the farmer, are taken from common life experiences, and are frequent literary metaphors, applied here in a specifically spiritual sense. From the soldier,
Timothy must lean endurance, from the athlete, discipline and from the farmer, perseverance.
Paul knew that Timothy was young, timid and was ministering in a spiritually vulnerable environment in Ephesus. He had been standing against false teachers and trying to restore order to the Church, but he had experienced only minimal success. We should strive to do our best to preach the gospel message in our community, to endure all things for the sake of the elect (verse 10), and not to deny Christ in whatever situations we might find ourselves.
PRAYER: Father, help me to endure, to be disciplined and to persevere in all situations, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
