“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12 ESV.
Fight the good fight of faith. We are in a fight; this walk of faith that we are in is a fight to the end—a fight we are invited into every day when we wake. The moment our eyes are open, there is a fight between our flesh and our spirit, both desiring to win over the other. We must have an eternal perspective to win over our flesh, the works of darkness, and the greed that feeds our egos and desires. We must see our life here in light of eternity, as everything we experience on earth is temporary; all we can attain is temporary and should not be where our fight is.
Making the good confession in the presence of many witnesses is testifying that Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Saviour, Messiah, and King. The word confession here means “Speaking the same thing,” which means that we speak the same thing as Jesus’ good confession that He is the Messiah. When this was written, this was a very controversial thing to say. Many were beaten, mocked, imprisoned or killed for making this good confession. This fight was not just a spiritual one but a physical one in many cases, which is why part of the focus of this fight is to walk with contentment. Not to get caught up in all the earthly distractions that bring temporal gain but godliness with contentment is great gain. I wonder if we will get there again. I wonder if there will come a time when it’s dangerous to declare that Jesus is Lord, King and reigns over all. I believe that it might.
In 1 Timothy 6: 16, a phrase stands out to me: he dwells in unapproachable light. My mind cannot fathom it. I cannot comprehend the glory of eternity. My eyes are fixed on eternity. I know that anything I could experience on the earth is like rubble next to what is to be revealed. Come, Lord Jesus, Come.
Lord, thank you for stamping eternity on my eyes. Help me fight the good fight of faith and lead others to do the same.
