"Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight."
This is one of those verses where you wonder why they chose to split the verse this way. They stop mid thought. It's like a cliffhanger, a to be continued episode of your favorite TV show, and then you cross to the next verse and "ah hah" holding faith and a good conscience. Got it!
I read through this verse a couple of times and just struggled with managing the part about the prophecy. Really couldn't see what I could get out of something so specific to Timothy. So I did what any good bible scholar would do, I took it out. In many ways the verse could be summed up by saying "This charge I entrust to you that you wage a good war holding faith and a good conscience." That makes complete sense to me.
When I do look at the verse this way, you see a real simplicity. Sometimes I make Christianity so complicated. Sometimes I get stuck looking at all of the bars I have to jump over. I get discouraged when I get into these ruts. Downright depression ridden at times when I see myself knocking down these "self created spiritual hurdles". The ones I think I need to clear to live a truly spiritual life.
Paul encourages Timothy to do two things to wage the good war. Just 2 THINGS! Hold the Faith and Keep a Good Conscience. This reminded me of when Christ was asked about the greatest commandment and he simply said "Love the Lord, Love your Neighbor (paraphrase)". Here in essence Paul is restating that same point. Hold the Faith (Love the Lord) Keep a Good Conscience (Honor God in Your Actions to All). The beauty about our God and our faith is that it does not burden us with laws, but encourages us to live a new, beautiful, renewed life of loving the Lord and loving others. This is what I want to embrace.
After thinking through this, I realized I couldn't really leave out a whole section of this Scripture so I went back to the part about Timothy's prophecy. I realized that if I was trying to look a this passage through Timothy's lense, this part would have been the most meaningful to Timothy. I don't know what the prophecies contained, but that doesn't really matter. I looked again at this part and I realized that this was Timothy's "HOW". This was how he was going to going to accomplish this simple yet daunting charge given by Paul. By hanging on to the calling that God has given him.
Only some of us as believers can say we have been prophesized over, but I think all of us can lay hold to a calling that God has laid upon our hearts and our lives. Paul is saying, when this charge to wage the good war seems hard, remember your calling. Remember what you were and how God called you out of the darkness of your previous life. Remember the great calling of opportunity given to you to be in service in the army of the Lord. Waging the Good War. Remember the great position you have been given as a child of God, prince of this world, royal priest, a member of a holy nation. When you remember this, fight for what is good. Then do just two things, "Keep the Faith and a Good Conscience."
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