Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
2 Timothy 2:1-4
The Bible often uses military service as a metaphor for the Christian life. We are instructed to put on armor, commanded to maintain discipline and follow orders, and told to stand firm no matter what we may face. God did not promise us an easy life when we enlisted in His service. We must be willing to endure the hardship of battle to serve God as we should rather than looking for an easy place of service. John R. Rice said, “Many people are happy to be in the army of the Lord as long as they get to serve in the quartermaster corps.”
One of the most important things a soldier has to rely on is those who are around him in service. He knows they have his back, and he knows that he will have theirs if the need arises. This attitude was expressed in a letter written in 1865 by General William Tecumseh Sherman to his commanding officer, General Ulysses S. Grant. Sherman had been operating separately for months, hundreds of miles away from Grant’s main army. Yet Sherman wrote, “I knew wherever I was that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would come—if alive.”
As long as we are alive, we should be willing to aid those around us who are enduring difficulty and hardship in their service to God. Paul wrote, “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). One of the keys to success in the army of the Lord is the fellowship and support we offer to each other.
