I am always receiving advertisements from Christian travel agencies offering trips to the Holy Land, cruises to Alaska, excursions to Rome, Greece and the like. I have finally figured out that I am a target because I am retired, and a Christian. Well, they should save their brochures for someone else. I really think it would be great if Jesus decided to come back during the height of the “cruising season” and catch several hundred thousand Christians attempting to cruise into heaven.
Paul wrote Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:1-10 to encourage him so that he could also encourage his parishoners. He told him in verse 3 to “suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Then in the very next verse he says, “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one that has enlisted him as a soldier.” I think it is here where we find a clue to why there are so few believers fighting in the war that is raging today. The answer is found in three words, “in active service.”
When I was in the military, I would go to my closet one weekend a month and pull out a uniform, dust it off and get dressed. I was in the National Guard, and for two days a month I looked, acted and even sort of felt like a soldier. But my heart was never really in it. My heart was longing to get home that afternoon, be with my family and do things I wanted to do, not things my commanding officer wanted.
This illustration is a great picture of Christianity in this time in history. We are in a war and if I didn’t know better I would think that we are losing it. Thank God that we have the Bible and can know how this will all turn out. We have been redeemed not to become so entangled with the affairs of this life that we are blind to the battle. But we have been saved to fight for our Savior; to follow Him closely in these last few minutes of our lives. If we are following closely, He can whisper His orders to us. Otherwise, He will likely be drowned out by all of the noise and frivolity of our entertainment.
We should hold on to the things in this life … loosely. We should hold on to things eternal with all our might!