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10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. 11 Command and teach these things! ~ 1 Timothy 4:10-11
This first epistle of the Apostle Paul written to Timothy is about being trained by the truth. And, when we are being trained by the truth, we are made more effective at communicating the truth to others.
In v.10 of today's text we read, "That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe."
When we are convinced of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will be single-mindedly focused on the opportunities in life to influence others in a way that they may be enabled to see the truth of the Gospel as we have. This investment comes on the heels of our authentic walk with the Lord whereby He is training us by the application of His truth as it happens to us. The best classroom wherein God teaches us is most often the most difficult. All of this underscores the most important thing in our lives: our understanding of God or our theology. It is our theology that determines our choices in life.
Once we entered into a personal relationship with the God of all Creation, we were made aware of a different realm that we were not all that aware of before. All of a sudden, we found ourselves functioning with eternity in view and from eternities perspective, everything else comes into clearer view. This results in laboring and striving to deliver the Gospel to others as clearly as we have seen it for ourselves. I have found that God has given me the life experiences that I have so that I may know Him and make Him known better.
This work is so labor intensive because the results are so serious. For everyone we know and have known and will know will spend eternity in heaven or hell based upon how each responds to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. When was the last time we contemplated what hell is like for those who are there right now? This should move us to serious action to share the Gospel with all who will hear us.
Paul writes, "because we have put our hope in the living God." Having given our hearts to the Lord, we are learning that He is giving His heart to us. And, this has serious ramifications: we are gaining a greater sense of concern for the lost. One of the common criticisms the Lord Jesus faced when He walked this earth was: He spent too much time with sinners. If we are gaining His heart, we will be accused in like manner. Due to the fact that we know that all will one day either stand before God as Judge or Savior, we should work hard at connecting with people in such a way that we are privileged to share the gospel with them in hopes that they will receive the free gift of forgiveness through the Lord Jesus.
The word “labor” comes from a Greek verb which means to work to the point of weariness or exhaustion. The word “strive” comes from a Greek verb which means to agonize. As those who have heaven as our home, we work to the point of exhaustion and we agonize over the lost estate of those who are not in Christ because we know the eternal outcome for everyone who rejects this free gift.
We know many in this world who live as if this world is the ultimate in reality and they invest everything they have in holding onto this world. The Christian is different, "we have put our hope in the living God." We deprive ourselves of the earthly pleasures and we suffer rejection because our hope is set on eternity with the living God. We are not tied to the temporal, we are not trying to amass a fortune here so we can indulge ourselves before we leave earth. We are set on and defined by the future. Eternity! We live out of this hope that will propel us into an eternity of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and self-control.
It is this sure hope that the Lord Jesus has earned for us and we long for others to know it for themselves. William Faulkner once said, "You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore." To what degree are we willing to lose sight of the shore of this world? To the degree that we are convinced of the reality of heaven becomes the degree to which we will lose our grip on this world.
In v.11 we read, "Command and teach these things." The word "command" underscores the seriousness of the issue at hand. And, the word “teach” includes the idea of passing on information to another in a way that causes them to want it. In Titus 2:10, the Apostle Paul commands us to "adorn the Gospel." The Greek word used for adorn gives us our English word "cosmetic" which is to dress it up, to beautify it. We do this best by developing a trusting relationship with the lost, a relationship wherein we earn their trust. And, as we get to know them, we do well to be humble, honest, and authentic in our walk with the Lord for it is out of our sincere love for the Lord that He speaks His truth most loudly.
The greatest and most attractive of all virtues is love; it is the universal language. If people are convinced of our love for the Lord and them, they will be drawn to Him. Love should be the ultimate mark of the disciple of the Lord Jesus, who said, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).
