Fight the Good Fight
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (NRSV)
Living out your faith in Jesus, man, there are some great times. Times of victory, times of joy, times of deep satisfaction at having served the Lord. And then, then there are times when it’s a struggle, times when it feels like you’re only just hanging on by your fingernails.
Good times, well, they come and go. Difficult times come and go as well. And there are times when temptation seems to be tearing away at the very fabric of our faith in Jesus – the temptations of wealth, the temptations of pleasure, the temptations of status and recognition. All of those can be like voracious piranhas tearing away at our flesh.
The wise, old Apostle Paul was writing about one of those – in this case, it was the desire to become rich – to his young ministry protégé Timothy. And it’s in that context that he goes on to say this:
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (NRSV)
On those days when temptations are tearing away at your faith to the point where you feel seriously under attack, God is calling you to fight the good fight, to struggle, to contend for your faith, to stand firmly against the temptation. Why? Because if you believe in Jesus, if your faith is fully and completely and exclusively in Him, then my friend you are called to life eternal. That’s why you’ve stood up in front of others to declare your faith in Him. So that you can have life, in all its abundance, for ever and ever.
So don’t be surprised when some days, you find your faith under fire, when some days temptations tear away voraciously at your flesh. On those days, listen to me, fight the good fight.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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Troy
I would have chosen the love of money is the root of all evil.
I would have chosen the love of money is the root of all evil.