2 Timothy 2:3-4. 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.
Navy Seal Training
Caleb Krohn preached an excellent message this year at Commonground Baptist Camp entitled “Don’t Ring the Bell.” As part of Navy Seal training, new cadets are told that any time during the training they can quit. All they need to do is come, place their helmet at the base of a metal bell, and then ring the bell three times. Out of an average class of 120 cadets, 110 of them will ring that bell. They will give up because things got too hard. The reality is most, if not all, 120 of those cadets are strong enough to make it through the training. Mentally they were not able to endure hardness of the training and failed. The instructors purposely try to break the cadets. They get in their heads and taunt them. They want to break them. It is critical that they be able to withstand the mental or they will not be good soldiers in the extreme conditions required of a Seal. The real Seal has something that makes him want to endure any hardness.
Christian Soldier Training
The Christian race is the same way. We are told to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. We are all equipped with the same measure of grace to be able to make it through Christian Solider Training. However, we have an enemy that tries to get in our head and wants us to quit and “ring the bell.” All the devil has to do is get you to quit in your mind and he has got you. The mind is the real battleground for the Christian. The Christian needs something more than himself, more than just helping others to live for if he is going to endure and not ring the bell. He needs to have a love for Jesus Christ and the goal of wanting to please Him. Without that, he will not be able to endure hardness. Everything else in life has to be behind that goal or the Christian will not make it.
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