Thoughts From 2Timothy 2 - Part 2

  Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 2Timothy 2:5-10

       "God's word is not chained." What a great thought. All over the world, Christians are tortured, imprisoned, beaten, and killed for their faith, yet the gospel can't be stopped. Paul was imprisoned thinking that this would stop the damage he was doing to the fragile balance between Roman occupation and the Jews, and yet he is preaching to palace guards and writing letters to churches (and us) that would set the church on fire, even 2000 years later. If he hadn't been imprisoned, would he have had time to write these epistles?

      Is the gospel "chained" in your life. There was an attorney at our church who once said that he separated his faith from work; he didn't want to mix up the two. At work he was an attorney and everywhere else he was a Christian. The word WAS chained in his practice. Think of it this way - Let's say you pull into the parking lot at work and take off your wedding ring and leave it in the car. Why? Because you say I don't want to mix up my personal life with my work life. (Wow, this sounds a lot like Severance) 

So when you sit at your desk you have no pictures of your spouse or family, you don't text them or receive calls, you might even have some flirting relationships with co-workers because you aren't married at work. How do you think your spouse would feel about that? That's crazy, our relationships continue even at work! That's the problem with what this attorney was saying. His Christianity was a religion not a relationship. I take Christ into work and wherever I go because like my spouse, I'm married to Christ. Can that cause some problems? Absolutely, but my relationship with Him comes above everything else and if I suffer, then I suffer.

      Is God's word chained in your life or are you proclaiming it everywhere you go? Remember, this Word alone gives salvation and eternal glory. Don't hide it. That would be selfish.