You Are Faithful

‘Success has a successor,’ and Paul told Timothy to impart everything he had learned from him to other ‘reliable men’. (2 Timothy 2:2) Paul used three images of a reliable, faithful person. First, He said a faithful person is like a ‘good soldier of Christ Jesus’ who will ‘endure hardship’. The soldier represents focus. Good Soldiers do not get involved in things that distract them from following their commander.

In order to be faithful to Jesus, our total focus must be on fighting the battle of Faith with Him, not on gaining position in the world. The second image of a faithful Christian is that of ‘an athlete’ (2 Timothy 2:5) This person’s success depends upon his or her character, for in athletics, to break the rules means instant disqualification. The last image we should impart to those we are mentoring is that of a ‘hardworking farmer’. (2 Timothy 2:6) Farmers are models of patience.

Their seeds must gradually grow into crops. They cannot become impatient and dig up the seed to see if it is growing yet! If you find a focused, pure, patient servant of the Lord, invest your time in that person. One day, he or she will do the same for someone else, and your life will have counted for something great.