Glory to God! The Lord has been good to us so far in life and without any doubt we can trust the Lord that He will continue to remain good to us for the rest of our life. The holy Scriptures also assert strongly and publicly that the Lord is good: The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him (Nahum 1:7; also refer to: Psalm 34:8; 100:5; 145:9). As we enter into a new day and new week and new month in life, let us hold fast unto Him who lead and guide us to walk in the path of righteousness, as king David asserted: … He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake (Psalm 23:3; also refer to: 5:8). Let us also pray to the Lord of our life to lead and guide us through the ways and paths He set for us: Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long (Psalm 25:4-5). If we abide in Jesus as He abides in us (John 15:4a) and pray to Him (John 14: 13-14; Philippians 4:6), He will answer our prayers and show us the path of life – in fact, the path of eternal life: Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble (Proverbs 4:10-12). God promised His protection and provision upon everyone who abide in Him as He spoke through prophet Isaiah: This is what the LORD says— he who created you … When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One – your Savior (Isiah 43:1-3).

The Lord has blessed us with a very instructive and rewarding Scripture passage for our SftW meditation this week, which is taken from Apostle Paul’s Second Epistle to Timothy (2:1-7 / mentions above). Here, Apostle Paul briefly talks about the roles of soldiers, athletes, and farmers in comparison with the role of Christian ministers and believers who faithfully serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 2:3-6). From Apostle Paul’s perspective, whoever serves Jesus Christ ought to serve Him in a way a good and loyal soldier serve His country, or a passionate athlete who tirelessly practice and participate in a competition according to the rules and regulations or like a hardworking farmer who get to keep the first share of the crops:

• • A good and loyal soldier gives priority serving his country rather than looking for his own benefit or comfort (2 Timothy 2:3-4).
  • A well-trained athlete participate in a competition in a way to win the victor’s crown rather than just being part of the competition (2 Timothy 2:5).
  • Also, the one who serves Jesus Christ ought to serve Him in a way a hardworking farmer cultivate his/her land as he is the first one to receive a share of the crops (2 Timothy 2:6).

None of the above categories of profession is an easy job, but it is time consuming, cost absorbing, and has a need to invest a lot of time and efforts [in addition to the accompanied pain and struggles] to successfully reach each of their expected goal. A soldier or an athlete or a farmer go through severe trials and struggles as they faithfully carry out the responsibilities entrusted upon them, which was the reason Apostle Paul who faithfully and tirelessly served the Lord of his life invites everyone who follow Christ Jesus faithfully to join him to serve the Lord faithfully even in the midst of trials, struggles, and suffering (2 Timothy 2:3a). Paul assured his readers that if they engage actively in the ministry for which God has called them to and faithfully carry out their responsibilities [as a believer or as a minister of the gospel], the Lord Himself will give them insights to carry out successfully the ministry they were called to and reward them according to their hard work deserves (refer to: 2 Timothy 2:7; Matthew 16:27; Ephesians 6:8. Colossians 3:24; Revelation 22:12).

Also, we can read here that the gospel message that the Lord has entrusted to Apostle Paul has passed on to young Timothy [who is like his son (2 Timothy 2:1-2)] and urging him to guard the message he received from him, as it is mentioned: What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us (2 Timothy 1:13-14). Besides, Paul was asking young Timothy to pass the same on to other qualified and faithful and reliable people who will teach others, as it mentioned here: The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others (2 Timothy 2:2). When we read the following verses [that is, 2 Timothy 2:3-6], we can understand from Paul’s words that he paid a high price to keep and guard and pass it on to young Timothy and others like him who are qualified to teach others what was entrusted into Paul’s care (1 Timothy 1:12a; 2 Timothy 2:3a). When we read his epistles to the churches, especially the Second Epistle to the Corinthian church chapter eleven (11), we can understand the intensity of his struggles and sufferings he went through as he wholeheartedly took the gospel to the unreached regions of the ancient world; for instance: he was beaten with rods three times; he received thirty-nine lashes for five times; he was stoned; he spend days and nights traveling both on the land and in the sea; he endured shipwreck; he was drifting back and forth [without being steered or controlled] in the open sea for a night and a day; he suffered frequent exposure to the weather patterns; he suffered sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, cold and so on. Paul earned his livelihood working hard with his own hands as a tentmaker and preached the gospel free of charge, which means, he served the Lord willingly and wholeheartedly without expecting anything from others including his very personal needs such as food, clothing, shelter, travel needs [such as mission trips and missionary journeys], and so on (refer to Acts 18:3; 20:34; 1 Corinthians 4:12; 9:6-7, 18; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8). Apostle Paul was supposed to receive the necessities of his life as a mission-worker in a similar way a soldier or a farmer or an athlete deserve to receive a return and reward for themselves for the time and cost and efforts and hard labor, yet he denied himself receipt of anything, as he questions: Is it only Barnabas and I who have to work to support ourselves? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? (1 Corinthians 9:6-7). Paul made his stand boldly and clearly that he did not expect to receive any return or reward from anyone in the world as his hope was in the Lord God whom he served, as he stated: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, it is our call to carry out the ministry responsibilities entrusted upon us faithfully and work hard in the same way a soldier or an athlete or a farmer carry out each of their responsibilities. We have seen that Apostle Paul served the Lord without expecting any return or reward from anyone in the world, and, thus, we also [as faithful servants of our Lord Jesus] need to serve the Lord wholeheartedly and willingly without expecting any return or reward from anyone in the world. In fact, we are called to serve Him faithfully without expecting a return or reward from anyone in the world as He who called is faithful (1 Thessalonians 5:24; Hebrews 10:23) and He is able to supply all our needs in life and care for us according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). May the Lord God Almighty help us all and bless us to fulfill His purpose in and through our lives! Amen!