Undaunted.Life: A Man's DevotionalНамуна

SPIRITUAL, Day 6: Bold Endurance Picture this… For you, death is just around the corner. You just know it. You don’t know the exact day. You don’t know the exact time. However, you know that it is in your immediate future. There is no escaping it. What would be running through your mind? How would you be reflecting on your days, months, and years leading up to that point? Who would be on your mind? Most importantly, what would you want to communicate the most to those that you will be leaving behind? This is the exact state that we find Paul in as he’s writing his second and final letter to his coworker/mentee Timothy. Paul is in a Roman prison awaiting martyrdom. In the meantime, he is doing all he can to remain busy by writing and studying until the day of his execution. He’s surely aware that this could be one of his last letters to anyone, so it would be reasonable to assume that he’s taking great care and consideration in the content he includes in his writing at this point in his life. In the second chapter of 2 Timothy, Paul is giving Timothy the blueprint for what a good soldier of Jesus looks like. He specifically talks about mentorship, sharing in suffering, competition, and diligence. These are all good lessons in their own right, but Paul’s overarching message with verses 1-13 is the call for BOLDNESS during this time. He is calling Timothy and the other individuals spreading the good news about Jesus to be bold in their ministry. Most importantly, Paul draws a connection to the foundation for how we are to live in this boldness: the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is where the strength to be bold comes from. He goes on to talk about how the strength of the gospel of Jesus can positively affect our endurance (v. 10), our perspective of life and death (v. 11), our perseverance (v. 12), and our recognition of God’s unwavering faithfulness (v. 13). Paul isn’t just making this stuff up because he wants to make himself or Timothy feel better. Not at all. We have to remember at the time that Paul is writing this letter, there are still people who are alive that SAW Jesus after he was resurrected. These people weren’t choosing to die a martyr’s death because of what they read or what they heard; many chose to die because of what they SAW. If Jesus didn’t fulfill the 48 messianic prophecies, then he’s just another good teacher. If Jesus didn’t become sin on our behalf, then he’s just another person crucified by the Roman Empire. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then he’s just another dead so-called “Messiah.” However, Jesus DID fulfill all of the prophecies. He DID become sin on our behalf and take God’s wrath upon himself. He DID rise from the dead as he predicted. That is the key to our spiritual strength. That is the key to our spiritual resilience. That is the key to our spiritual boldness, men. It is the gospel. How can you align your life in a way that it better displays the reality of the gospel?