The Athlete

2 Timothy 2:1-7

2Ti 2:1                         You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,

2Ti 2:2             and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

2Ti 2:3                         Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

2Ti 2:4             No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

2Ti 2:5                         An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

2Ti 2:6                         It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.

2Ti 2:7             Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

According to the rules… In other words, if you cheat, you don’t win. But what are we competing for? Why should we play according to the rules?

There are two ways to read this text. Often when the church teaches about a text that tells us to obey the rules, they try and scare us into following them. “DO these things and DON’T do these things to make God happy with you. What they are really saying is Do and Don’t to appease God.

Appease: to pacify: cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of; propitiate: make peace with.

The problem with this is that it is not biblical Christianity. What makes Christianity not a religion and different than any other deity belief system is that we don’t have to do anything for God to love us and show favor on us. God showers mercy on the wicked and the righteous. We do not control God by our actions. It is God who reconciled us to him.

Rom 5:8     but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

While we were enemies of God, while were dead in our trespasses, while we were rejecting our creator, while we were blaspheming His name, while we were satisfying the desires of the flesh, while  we were lusting, steeling, lying, cheating, abusing, destroying, perverting, CHRIST DIED FOR US.

Rom 9:16        So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

Nothing that we have done, do, or will do will affect Christ’s love for us. But this seems to be a hard concept to apply even though I understand the principle. The “you get what you earned” principle has been so burned into my brain that it is difficult for me to truly walk in the freedom of what grace and mercy really is.

We know what competing according to the rules is not; obeying God’s commands in order to appease him. So then, what are we competing for? Look at John 15:10-11:

John 15:10           If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

John 15:11           These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

If we do not keep his commands, it’s not that his love leaves us; it’s that we are not operating in the love he has already given us. What happens when we abide in his love and we obey his commands? His joy will be in us and our joy will be full! This sounds so appealing because all of the joy that I know on earth is fleeting and not full. Christ is calling us to draw from the inexhaustible fountain that is our Lord and Savior.

"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” -Jesus Christ, “John 6:35”

If we are competing for joy, and we break the rules, it sells us short of our joy in Christ. As soon as we can, we need to get it through our heads that we are not as smart or as clever as God. We just aren’t. Let’s take a command from God and see what happens if we cheat. If I decided to not work and just live off of my wife working, it is going to destroy our marriage. If I buy what I want now on credit, despite the fact that I don’t have the money for it, I am going to become a deepening slave to my finances. If I decide to make a habit of pornography, I am going to look at my wife with less attraction, compassion, and desire. If I talk maliciously about my co-workers with others, I will damage the unity of our workplace.

We tend to live for the moment and do things our way despite the destructive power of cheating God’s rules. It boils down to satisfying our desires quicker but never giving us the intensity or consistency of the pleasure we can receive from doing it God’s way. Right now, we need to decide that we cannot trust ourselves. We need to decide to submit our life to godly counsel and scripture. Some of us will let our world’s burn before we do that. It is absolutely essential because our joy is at stake. We are competing for our joy. Be like the athlete who competes according the rules, and then you will be crowned with the crown of joy.

Take time to pray right now that God would reveal to you where you are doing things your way. Ask Him to stir your affections for Him rather than the quick fix of self gratification in sin.  Go after Him, because in Him we will be satisfied.