Fight the Good Fight
Lord, teach us to seek you, and reveal yourself to us when we seek you. For we cannot seek you unless you first teach us or find you except you reveal yourself to us. Let us seek you in longing and long for you in seeking; let us find you in love and love you in finding, O Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Ambrose)
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 NRSV
As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So, I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Cassiodorus
As someone has said, you will scarcely ever find that when a person prays, some empty and external reflection does not impede him, causing the attention which the mind directs to God to be sidetracked and interrupted. So, it is a great and most wholesome struggle to concentrate on prayer once begun, and with God’s help to show lively resistance to the temptations of the enemy, so that our minds may with unflagging attention strain to be ever fastened on God. Then we can deservedly recite Paul’s words: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.[1]
Matthew Henry
The blood of the martyrs, though not a sacrifice of atonement, yet was a sacrifice of acknowledgment to the grace of God and his truth. Death to a good man, is his release from the imprisonment of this world, and his departure to the enjoyments of another world. As a Christian, and a minister, Paul had kept the faith, kept the doctrines of the gospel. What comfort will it afford, to be able to speak in this manner toward the end of our days! The crown of believers is a crown of righteousness, purchased by the righteousness of Christ. Believers have it not at present, yet it is sure, for it is laid up for them. The believer, amidst poverty, pain, sickness, and the agonies of death, may rejoice; but if the duties of a man’s place and station are neglected, his evidence of interest in Christ will be darkened, and uncertainty and distress may be expected to cloud and harass his last hours. [2]
Now may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and may Jesus Christ himself also, the eternal high priest and Son of God, build you up in faith and truth, and in gentleness, avoidance of anger, forbearance, longsuffering, patient endurance and purity; and may he grant you to inherit a place among his saints; may he grant this to us also so that we can be with you, and to everyone under heaven who will believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and in his Father who raised him from the dead. Amen.[3] (Polycarp)
Fight the Good Fight
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] Ancient Christian Devotional Year C, p. 245.
[2] Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 2 Ti 4:6.
[3] Ancient Christian Devotional Year C, p. 247.
