Remain Strong

I Timothy 6:11-12, "But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses." (NLT)

 

Our physical body will face certain challenges as we travel down the road of life. Some of these physical struggles such as age, disease, injuries, etc. will serve as agents to slow us down to where we are limited in some areas of our physical stamina. I believe that the Spirit placed this passage of scripture in my heart during prayer this morning. Each of us have either faced challenges or we are presently facing obstacles that challenges us to turn loose of our faith. The first four words of verse 12 kept resonating in my mind as I prayed this morning. I must be willing and I must be committed to "fight the good fight..." I believe that the enemy will use challenges, tests, trials, temptations, etc. to wear down my spiritual life just as I mentioned some things that will happen to wear down our physical strength. It is during those moments that we must heed to the instruction that Paul goes on to share in verse 12. The Spirit through Paul reminds us and encourages us to "Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you..."

 

That statement leads me to believe that the true desire of satan is to cause each of us to "turn loose" of our hope in Christ. I encourage you this morning to be committed to perseverance regardless of the challenge or situation. We must remember that God has called us to enjoy His provision of eternal life not only when we arrive in heaven but we already possess the strength of that eternal life at this very present moment. The circumstances and realities of life does not change the eternal fact that God is at work in our hearts at this very moment. I believe that I can hear the people of God rejoicing over the fact that God will not leave nor forsake us as we walk the path of life. The road of life can become winding and often times dangerous but the Chief Shepherd is always present to direct our steps and He is present to guide us down the path of life.

 

I will leave you with the words of verse 12; "Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses."