Over The Shoulder

Fight the good fight of faith... 1 Timothy 6:12

Agony is intensely not the usual we would welcome with open arms. Such is an altercation much we make a habit to stay out of and away from as it means the exact opposite of peace. On what grounds should I tussle and wrangle over? I only want to habit to stay out of struggle. Yet the admonition given here in a letter to pastor Timothy is just that; to agonize. Our English word for fight here is derived from the term: agony and so that is exactly what Paul counsels Timothy and us to do here. The passage now unravels as you read it this way: Agonize the good fight of faith. Un-pretty as it may change your heart’s eyes, is the true embodiment of the faithful, for which this stands. Long suffering, prolonged pain, and mental struggle are the efforts needed to win. Fighting the good fight of faith issues these violent traits because our conflict is not of this world; it is over the spiritual domain. Unearthingly, this may not be the battle you adorn, yet be it to Christ who has taken on the very robe of agony in His winning of us - how can it not be then if we engage our lives uniform to His, that we should not also be clothed with the same passion.
Look not on to what you can see in your own glory, but on that which is unseen in power and on that who is only potent (verse 15), making you champion at His appearance. Fleshly acuteness directs us not to agonize while the supernatural pleads to enlist. It’s a choice of response. To hide on the sidelines and agree with the dirt, or to gear up and battle and agree with the heavens.

Mighty, mighty roars the drum from whence the tomb was shaken. Mightier the throb of heart of a Savior now awaken. Quick the hush it seldom seems for a warrior out regime. None the less, I’ll lay hold of the One who already carried my beam.

Yes. Amen.