A Good Soldier

This morning I read a verse in 2 Timothy that I have probably read at least a dozen times before but had never really noticed in the past. Verse 3 says to "endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus". Before I go any further, I want to admit that my knowledge of soldiers comes primarily from stories and movies which means that I am not the best source on what makes a good soldier. That being said, as I read that verse this morning, I took a few minutes to think about what makes a good soldier. Here is the list that I came up with (certainly not exhaustive)

• Courageous


• Loyal/Committed


• Hard-working


• Dependable


• Risk Taker


• Calm under pressure


• Leader


• Self-Sacrificing


• Discipline

After thinking through this list, I looked at Paul's analogy of being a soldier of Christ Jesus and asked myself if I am these things when it comes to following Jesus. The answer was sometimes. Unfortunately, if I was a soldier in the U.S. military and acted the way that I do as a soldier of Jesus, I would be in a lot of trouble, maybe even dead.

As I continued to think through this analogy, I thought that it should be even easier to be a soldier for Jesus because He is the only "General" that is 100% trustworthy. No matter how good an officer in the military is, he/she will make mistakes, they will do things that they shouldn't do. Jesus isn't like that, so, shouldn't it be even easier to follow Him? Shouldn't I be able to live out the qualities listed above without fear and without restraint?

For some people the idea of being a soldier for Jesus is why they don't want to follow Him. They don't want to be told what to do, they want to do things their way and be in control. But, when you are in a battle, like we are, doing things on your own gets you killed. I'm not so sure that I would make a good soldier in the U.S. military, but I am going to strive to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. After all, He has already won the war.