Battle scared? Feeling the weariness down in the depths of your being? Ready to give up? Give in? I can’t speak for you but I know that for me there are moments I do feel so bone weary that it’s painful. And whatever ‘it’ is, I don’t want to do anything. The more you think about it… exactly what is ‘IT’ that you’re expending that much effort on/for? Why are you doing whatever you are doing? Have you lost sight of the goal?
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept
the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)
You? Can you say this about your life – who you are and what you have done? Any unfinished work? Age is not a factor, it’s all about the ‘work’ and this includes the ‘fight’.
I would argue that we need to keep sight on what our fight is all about. If we don’t, then we lose our impetus, our dedication, our commitment.
“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God
in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)
The prize, the goal is 2 Timothy – fought the good fight, finished the course. We sometimes put the action ahead of the reason for what we do and then we lose sight of the reason. The point in this is – keeping the faith. Many times, keeping the faith is the fight because a life of faith isn’t always the easiest path. For me, this fulfills the Philippians verse. This is my vision – to fulfill my call by being and doing all I know how.
How can one press onward without a clear vision, understanding about what we are fighting for and what weapons we need to complete the task. The focus is people’s lives. The scripture that talks about ‘perishing for lack of a vision’ (Proverbs 29:18) is critical. We need to have a vision of: who we are, Who we serve, what the vision is that we are following. Without a clear understanding there’s little chance that we will press onward. Vision gives us our goal as well as those we are fighting for (even when they don’t want us to).
Is it worth it to you to press on? Will you fight the good fight? Jesus asked if when He returned would He find faith? Even if it is only you – will you continue to stand in faith? We are more than conquerors only when we do stand uncompromisingly and firmly in faith. We can press onward knowing that our actions will stand as a witness.
