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THE PENTATEUCH

GENESIS ---EXODUS--- LEVITICUS 1.1-7.38 --- 8.1-11.47 --- 12.1-16.34--- 17.1-27.34--- NUMBERS 1-10--- 11-19--- 20-36--- DEUTERONOMY 1.1-4.44 --- 4.45-11.32 --- 12.1-29.1--- 29.2-34.12 --- THE BOOK OF JOSHUA --- THE BOOK OF JUDGES --- PSALMS 1-17--- ECCLESIASTES --- ISAIAH 1-5 --- 6-12 --- 13-23 --- 24-27 --- 28-35 --- 36-39 --- 40-48 --- 49-55--- 56-66--- EZEKIEL --- DANIEL 1-7 ---DANIEL 8-12 ---

NAHUM--- HABAKKUK---ZEPHANIAH ---ZECHARIAH --- THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW ---THE GOSPEL OF MARK--- THE GOSPEL OF LUKE --- THE GOSPEL OF JOHN --- THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES --- 1 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-16 --- 2 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-13 -- -GALATIANS --- EPHESIANS --- COLOSSIANS --- 1 THESSALONIANS --- 2 THESSALONIANS --- 1 TIMOTHY --- 2 TIMOTHY --- TITUS --- HEBREWS 1-6 --- 7-10 --- 11-13 --- JAMES --- JOHN'S LETTERS --- REVELATION

--- THE GOSPELS

Chapter 17 Pleasing Him Who Has Chosen Us To Be A Soldier (2 Timothy 2.4).

Once we begin to allow Christ to live through our lives we have then to consider the kind of life that He wants us to live. Paul makes it quite clear to us in 2 Timothy 2.3-7. It is the life of a soldier.

A soldier lives under orders. He can be called on at any time under any conditions to obey the orders of his commanding officer. It is not for him to question, it is for him to do, and even, if necessary to die. He does not look for an easy life. He does not expect to be pampered. He simply recognises the right of his superiors to ask of him anything that is required in order that they may achieve their objective, defeat of the enemy and success in their mission. The Christian is constantly engaged in a search and see operation.

The mission has been made quite clear to us. As we have already seen central to it are Jesus’ words, ‘Seek first the Kingly Rule of God and His righteousness’. And He then especially spoke of this in two aspects. In Mark we have His word of command,

‘Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature’ (Mark 16.15). And in Matthew He also commanded, ‘Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father Who is in Heaven’ (Matthew 5.16). Thus the mission that we have been given is that of going out into the world, and of telling and of doing. The one is useless without the other. If we tell and do not ‘do’, no one will believe us. If we ‘do’ and do not tell it is not our Father Who will receive the glory, but ourselves.

And then He has shown us different things that we can do in order that God may be glorified. Have you ever heard anyone say of some possible activity, ‘it takes time and money’? That is usually their excuse for doing nothing. It is saying, ‘we have neither the time nor the money’. And the people who say it are usually indicating that they prefer to spend their time and money on something else. For you see, we all have time and money, even the poorest. The only question is what we will do with it.

With regard to our use of time, Paul spoke of Christians as needing to ‘buy back the time, because the days are evil’ (Ephesians 5.16). He spoke of ‘walking in wisdom towards those who are without (outside the people of God), buying back the time’ (Colossians 4.5). So Christians are called on to make the most of their time, even to ‘buy it back’ so that they may reach outsiders with the Good news, and so that they may reveal Christ in the lovingkindness that they show towards them.

In 1 Corinthians 7.29-31 he declares that the time is short. This is as true now as it was then, for compared with what has to be done time is scare. I have never met anyone who was trying to serve the Lord faithfully who did not find that they were short of time. There is so much to be done, and so little time in which to do it. Indeed if you do have spare time you should be asking yourself why, when there are so many around who need comfort, and so many who need to hear the Good News.

That is why Paul said that we ‘know the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our (final) salvation nearer than when we first believed (Romans 13.11). Time is passing quickly by, he says, and we have much to do. Thus we must not sleep it away. To be indolent is a grievous sin. Furthermore, says Paul, ‘from now on those who have wives should be as though they have none, those who weep as those who wept not, those who rejoice as those who rejoice not, those who buy as though they did not have possessions, and those who use the world as not abusing it.’

What then does this mean? It means that we are to see ourselves as constantly in an emergency situation. It means that in our marriages the Lord’s work and the Lord’s requirements will take priority (and as Christians we should have married those who agree with us) so that we will be as faithful and useful as those who have no wives. It means that we must not let things that we have to mourn over prevent us from serving Christ as well as those who have nothing to mourn about. For we will find comfort in Him. It means that we will not spend time ‘rejoicing and having a good time’, but rather will rejoice as we go about our service for Him, so that we will not be hindered from doing as much as those who do not spend time ‘rejoicing’ and revelling. It means that possessions will not be allowed to take up our time. That they will mean as little to us as they do to those who have none. It means that while in His work we will take advantage of any opportunities that the world gives us, we will not abuse the situation by letting the world take up our time frivolously. We will remember that on the battlefield all concentration must be on the battle.

This does not, of course mean that we will not do our jobs properly. The true Christ-man or woman will do their work better than others, seeking to do it, not in order to please men, but singlemindedly so as to please God (Colossians 3.22). It does not mean that we will neglect our families, for they are our responsibility under God. ‘He who does not provide for His own is worse than an unbeliever’ (1 Timothy 5.8). But it does mean that we will not make either of these things an excuse for not being totally devoted to His service. It is a matter of wise stewardship.

However, when it comes to our ‘free’ time we will remember that a Christian does not have ‘free time. As we have seen Christians ‘buy it back’. They have to take time to polish up their armour and make it strong and resistant by studying His word. They have to find time to batter the enemy by prayer. They have to find time to establish a firm witness to their neighbours both near and further away. They have to find time to do what is right to those in need in different ways. And above all they must find time for praise and worship. So they have to ask, ‘Lord, what would YOU have me to do?’ They have to consider that if they take ‘time off’ it will mean that some things will never be done that ought to be done. So their ‘time off’ will be small.

Jesus was constantly talking about making the best use of the time. He said ‘Let your sleeves be rolled up, and let your lights be on at night, as signs that you are busy at work. And you yourselves must be like men who are waiting for their Lord to come, lest when He comes He finds you sleeping’ (Luke 12.35-36; Mark 13.36). And He repeated the same idea many times in different ways. He expected that all would do as much as they could with the talents that God had given them (Matthew 25.15-22). And he stressed that all was urgent because one day the Lord would come and then the opportunity for service and achieving His will would be over. He asked, ‘Who then is that faithful and wise servant whom the Lord has set over His household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is the servant whom His Lord when He comes will find so doing.’ And He goes on to point out the fate of the one who is misusing the situation (Matthew 24.45-51). It is clear from all this that their service for God was to be central to their lives.

So when it comes to our use of time it is not the time that we have available to spend in His service that we should be assessing, that should be all our ‘spare time’. It is our use of time in any other ways. There are things that we legitimately will have to do, but we must be able to justify our spending our time in that way to the Master. We must ask whether such things are really what He wants to spend His time on, as He lives through us.