One of the hardest parts of life is the ability to focus. I don’t know about you, but my mind often wanders, tempted to pick up my phone and mindlessly scroll through Instagram. Staying on task is hard work. 

But have you noticed that people who accomplish great things in life and live without regrets (2 Timothy 4:7) can stay focused on the task? 

Even when that task is difficult or painful. 

But what does that look like when you run from one thing to the next? What does that look like in our relationships with other people and our relationship with God? 

In 2 Timothy chapter 2, Paul gives us 3 incredibly helpful images as we think about how hard life should be, what to do when life is hard, and how not to be surprised when encountering difficulties. 

Paul tells Timothy that following Jesus and being faithful to finish our race well will be like being a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. Each of these gives us a glimpse of what life and faith will be like, but we often forget them. 

Soldier

Paul says following Jesus is a lot like being a soldier. Soldiers put everything on the line; you are always on in war.

You don’t get distracted in a battle. 

A soldier is willing to suffer, knowing it will not be easy, and willing to lay it on the line.

A soldier has said yes before an order has been given.

Soldiers in active service do not expect a safe or easy time. They take hardship, risk, and suffering as a matter of course.

A soldier is always a soldier, just like a Christian is always a Christian.

Which means he doesn’t worry about the things everyone else worries about. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t worry about food or shelter, but “civilian pursuits” refer to priorities. As followers of Jesus, our priorities must differ from others in the same way that the priorities of a soldier differ from the rest of the population. 

The reality is few Christians in America will die for their faith. But, the more faithful you are, the more God works and moves in your life, and the more roadblocks and hardships Satan will send your way.

To be good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we must be dedicated to the battle, committing ourselves to a life of discipline and suffering, and avoiding whatever may ‘entangle’ us and distract us from it. 

Athlete

The Greek word in verse 5 for compete here also means “to contest, contend, wrestle and struggle.”

For many of us who follow Jesus, this is often what it feels like, and for good reason. Paul tells us that we shouldn’t be surprised. 

An athlete who succeeds has a lot of talent, gifts, determination, and willpower. These are needed to work your body, the sacrifice of working out, eating right, the discipline, the struggle to keep going when you don’t feel like moving.

An athlete’s life revolves around their sport, even in the offseason. They take breaks and rest so they can perform at a high level. 

Each athlete for the Olympics during Paul’s time had to state on oath that he had fulfilled the necessary ten months’ training before he was permitted to enter the contest.

And here’s the thing about athletic competitions. I always hear something at the gym: the bar doesn’t lie. This means that whatever is on the bar when you lift, that’s what you can lift. Not, “Oh man, one time I lifted this.” You can’t hide if you didn’t train. You will not have the endurance or the strength. If you haven’t lifted weights, you can’t show up at the powerlifting meet and squat 500 pounds. No amount of steroids or HGH will cover up a lack of training. 

In the same way, it will be your dedication to Jesus. 

Farmer

A farmer works long, hard hours in the cold, heat, rain, and drought.

He does not work when it is convenient but when he has to. The seasons don’t wait for him. The rain comes, and the sun shines; he doesn’t know when. But he must be prepared to act when they do and make adjustments when the weather doesn’t cooperate. 

He has to plant at the right time and harvest at the right time; he must always be ready to go at a moment’s notice, as a storm can come at any time.

While there are moments of excitement, being a farmer is mostly ordinary and mundane. In the same way, while there is excitement and risk in following Jesus, most of our time following Jesus will not be in big mountain-top moments but in the ordinary, often mundane moments of life. 

Walter Liefeld said, “The military image here has to do not with warfare but with disciplined obedience; the athletic image deals less with success and more with conformity to the rules; the agricultural image stresses hard work.”

Paul tells Timothy that finishing your race will require endurance, discipline, and perseverance. 

No matter what you are facing, whether it is your faith, a prayer you’ve been praying, your career, parenting or marriage, faithfulness will require endurance, discipline, and perseverance.