Every other year our families gather for family reunions. Maintaining relationships and family ties requires great commitment! This week we are gathered with my wife’s family in Branson, Mo. Her family is quite amazing. Her parents served as missionaries in Africa for more than 40 years. In fact, her father spoke Zulu before he spoke English. My wife was born in Swaziland in a remote mission station. At birth she weighed slightly over 4 pounds. The doctor told her parents, “There is nothing more I can do for your daughter. You might as well take her home. She will either live or die.” Her family has gathered together from South Africa, Chile, Oklahoma and, of course, Alaska.

As we look ahead to the next 40 years, great strength will be needed. Life is changing at a faster and faster rate.  Strength was needed in the past. Strength will be needed in the future. The last book the Apostle Paul wrote was 2 Timothy. He wrote from the Mamertine Prison in Rome. Nero was the emperor. Paul knew his earthly life was over. Very soon a Roman axe would flash in the sun and his head would be severed from his body. Paul faced death with confidence, dignity and strength. 2 Timothy is his last will and testament. Paul mentored Timothy. Timothy tended to be timid. Paul wrote to make Timothy strong. 2 Timothy 2:1-7 lists four keys to producing strength in your life.

Paul began in verse 1, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus ...” Paul possessed great strength. He wrote 13 books of the New Testament. He undertook three missionary journeys. He was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked and often left for dead. In Lystra a mob was so antagonized by Paul’s sermon they dragged him to the outskirts of town. They stoned him and left him for dead. The mob dispersed. Paul regained consciousness, stood up, walked back into town and finished his sermon! The first key to being strong is to be a teacher. Verse 2 reads, “… and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” A teacher studies the truth and knows the truth. Romans 10:17 reads, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” There is no substitute for reading and studying the Bible. As you read the Bible God is speaking to you. All Scripture is God breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). It is profitable. Theologians refer to this as special revelation. It is the God who created this universe making himself known to you.

Romans 1 says that in observing the creation two things can be known: God exists and he is very, very powerful. Amazingly, this God has spoken. His words are the Bible. Read them and hand them down to the next generation. Paul mentored Timothy. You must pour your life into others. Hand the spiritual baton down to the next generation.

The second key to being strong is to be a soldier. Verses 3-4 say, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” Every follower of Jesus is a soldier. The Christian life is not a picnic. It is a battle. Suffering is part of following Jesus.

One Sunday morning while serving in the military we got our M1 tank stuck in chest-deep mud. A 63-ton tank stuck in chest-deep mud is not an enjoyable experience! Jesus used language that described the cost in salvation. A believer must deny himself. He must take up his cross. He must die to self. Jesus must be first — even to the point of hating father and mother.

Paul reminds that life is to be lived before an audience of one. “... please the one who enlisted him.” Later in 2 Timothy 4:1 Paul says, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead ...” You must please one person in your life and that is Jesus. Everything else pales in importance.

The third key to being strong is to be an athlete. Verse 5 continues, “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” The rules for approaching God are spelled out in the Bible. Some believe that many paths lead to God. Some say that salvation is like climbing a mountain. They say that there are many paths that lead to the top but they are all good. Unfortunately, the Bible states the opposite. Jesus was absolutely clear. There is one way of salvation. It is found in Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ...” If there was any other path to heaven besides Jesus then the crucifixion was the greatest blunder in the history of the universe. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

The fourth key to being strong is to be a farmer. Paul continues, “It is the hardworking farmer who ought to have first share of the crops” (verse 6). A farmer wakes up early. He eats a large breakfast. His skin is tanned and calloused. In the same way, a follower of Christ must work hard. Salvation is based upon the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus on the cross. Faith involves the mind, the heart (the emotions) and the will. It involves knowledge. Jesus died as a substitute for our sins. His blood washes away our sins. My sin nailed Jesus to the cross. True saving faith changes a person’s life. One person said, “If your religion has not changed your life, you better change your religion.”

Our salvation is free but it entails spiritual disciplines. Prayer, Bible reading, service to others and avoiding sin are only a few. Work hard as a farmer and God will bless you.

My wife’s family reunion is ending. My family reunion will take place next week in Florida. As we focus upon the future and look toward the next 40 years, strength is needed more than ever. One of the strongest men who ever lived, the Apostle Paul, gives a prescription for being strong. Be a teacher, a soldier, an athlete and a farmer and the strength of God will be manifested in your life.

Ethan Hansen (ethanchansen@gci.net) is pastor of Faith Bible Fellowship in Big Lake.