Key Verse: 2 Timothy 4:7“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Paul’s second letter to Timothy is regarded my most scholars to be his final letter. In chapter four Paul begins to speak of his impending death. He uses a Greek word in V.6 that is translated as departure, and it would be used for a ship that was about to sell out of a particular port to never return again. Paul knew his death was at hand. Because of that he began to think back and recall the type of life he lived. I am still very young at the age of 27, but I often ponder how I will view the life I am living now when I am nearing the day of my death. Will I be satisfied with the choices I made? Will I truly be able to say that I lived for Christ? Will I be able to say that I shared the gospel, preached the Word of God, loved others, and lived for the glory of God? I believe that these are the thoughts on Paul’s mind at this exact moment. However, Paul unlike most of us he was able to characterize his life three different ways. He says, I fought the good fight. Paul most certainly did fight the good fight. As he shared the gospel across the MIddle East and Europe he was taking the battle to the devil and the dark demonic forces that are constantly at work in our society and culture. He fought the good fight. He then writes, that he finished the race. Here Paul I believe that Paul is stating that he ran the race that God laid out before him. The Christian life is most certainly a race. All of us have a different trail to run on however. My path looks different than yours. We are not to compare our paths, but rather we are to run which track or path God lays before us. Paul said he ran his. He finished what God had called him to do. Finally he writes that he kept the faith. I believe that by saying this Paul is reminding us that through all his trials he remained faithful to God. Also it seems likely that he is referring to the fact that he made sure the message he received from Christ, the gospel, was the same message he preached. He kept the faith by preserving it, and sharing it. Friends, I want to challenge you to take a quick look back at your life. Can you say the same things about your life that Paul does? Can you say that you have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith? I fear that most of us cannot truthfully say this about our own life. Most of us have chosen to live our life for ourself, and not the glory of God. Today surrender the rest of your life, however long or short that may be, to living for God’s glory!
