December 16 - 2 Timothy 1-4: Endure and Enjoy

Yesterday, I listened to a very honest sermon, one of those that can shake your foundation a little.  One of the points that stuck with the most was the speaker's identification of Christians who live either with a prosperity gospel or with a poverty gospel.  Very simply, the first believes God is all about giving me the best life now and the second believes God is asking me to delay enjoyment until eternity.  Obviously, they're both in ditches on the two sides of God's truth.

I experienced my own version of the prosperity gospel today when I felt disappointment at always having to choose the cheaper gifts for my family - not the things that would make them squeal, but the things that will be "fine."  My heart feels entitled to giving the best gifts now.  I'm not asking for them every Christmas, but at least one?!?  Then, I flip to my version of the poverty gospel and become very proud in my budget-conscious gift-giving decisions and to not join in on the commercialism that takes away from the "Reason for the season."  I'm sure God is honored that I celebrate the immense generosity of sending His Son to earth by being cheap.  Oh, my duplicitous heart!

Paul illustrates the truth of suffering and blessing so well in his life and through his writings.  He obviously endured suffering and didn't hesitate to make it clear that following Christ means to join in His sufferings.

Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea. (1:8-9)

Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there's no getting around it. (3:12)

...keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good... (4:5)

Paul also made it clear that our lives now are a precious gift that is truly understood only in light of this suffering.

...a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it.  But we know it now.  Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer; death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.  (1:9-10)

Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.  (1:14)

This is the only race worth running.  I've run hard right to the finish, believed all the way.  All that's left now is the shouting - God's applause!   (4:7-8)

Sometimes I catch myself in an all-or-nothing mentality - prosperity or poverty, blessings or curses, enjoyment or deprivation.  Both theologies are incomplete. Both are wrong.  I know when my thoughts tend to one extreme or the other that I've taken my eyes off the One who generously gives the strength to endure the suffering and who generously provides enjoyment in this life.  In the midst of my ditch-jumping, I hear God calling to me,

"I am for you.  My son is with you. My Spirit is in you.  Never forget that as you hear My instructions.  My instructions are always an invitation to life.

"The life I want you to live now is a life both to endure and enjoy.  At times, such strong endurance will be required that joy will seem a far-off hope, a lost experience.  But without endurance, you will know little of the very real joy I provide.  With endurance, a joy will develop that frees you to appreciate the pleasures of life's blessings without requiring from them a satisfaction they cannot provide.  And that same joy, more deeply felt as a longing whose complete satisfaction is guaranteed, frees you to endure whatever hardships lie ahead without indulging your still-alive spirit of entitlement by justifying illegitimate relief.

"The eternal life I give you can be enjoyed now to the degree you endure the hardships of fighting the good fight."  (66LL)