Weaving Together a Soldier, an Athlete and a Farmer

Reflections on 2 Timothy 2:3-6

Success in surviving hardship as a Roman soldier meant that one had to acquire a single-mindedness of purpose. Accordingly the good soldier would not allow himself to become entangled and distracted with the affairs of civilian life. He lived to serve his commanding officer. First, foremost and finally, he was a soldier.

This singleness of devotion required of the Roman legionary becomes dramatically more clear when we realize that he was not even supposed to marry during his years of service. Furthermore, Augustus Caesar had established the military term for soldiers at 20 years! (Many did unofficially have concubines).

To a servant of God who appears to have needed some encouragement, Paul reflected on the dedication that even a common soldier had to possess. How much more then God’s soldier ought to exemplify a single-mindedness of purpose and devotion to please his Commanding Officer!

As good as a tenacious dedication to God is, Paul knew all too well that this was not enough. Dedication without guidance from above is very dangerous, so he wove into this fabric of faithfulness the lesson of an athlete.

The intense training and discipline required of an athlete was proverbial. In order to just petition to participate in the ancient Olympic games, the prospective athlete was required under oath to pledge that he would train for 10 months. Yet, all the dedication in the world could not win for him the victor’s crown, if the athlete were to break the rules of the game. The one who would be victorious would be one who had competed by the established guidelines. Timothy’s service to God needed to be guided by God’s will, not just his own ideas of what was best.

And finally, Paul added a farmer to this collage of professions. As the hard working farmer is the first one to receive a benefit from the harvest, so it is only right that God’s faithful and dedicated servant should be first to share in the blessings of his labor.

Let’s be focused and dedicated to God in spite of hardships and sufferings while allowing God to direct our commitment. And finally, let’s be willing to humbly accept the blessings which come to those who faithfully serve God.

Barry Newton, Copyright © 1998

No portion of this material may be reproduced in any form for commercial purposes without the written permission of the author.