Fight the Good Fight

May 8, 2018

DAILY READING

Psalm 93
Deuteronomy 11:1-17
1 Timothy 6:13-16
This weekend’s reading: Psalm 139

FIELD NOTES

Fight the good fight. Take hold of eternal life (1 Timothy 6:11-12). These are big visions, big messages, big commands. These words sound heroic, honor filled, lofty, magnificent, glorious, Holy! Realistically, however, they are a call to Obedience with a capital ‘O’. And that may not mean what you think AND it might be more challenging than you imagine.
 
In “Why is Obedience to God Important?” Mary Fairchild of the Thought Company lists several definitions/understandings of the obedience.

• “The general concept of obedience both in the Old and New Testament relates to hearing or hearkening to a higher authority.
• One of the Greek terms for obedience conveys the idea of positioning oneself under someone by submitting to their authority and command. Another Greek word for obey in the New Testament means “to trust.”
• According to Holman’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary a succinct definition of biblical obedience is “to hear God’s Word and act accordingly.”
• Eerdmans’s Bible Dictionary says, “True ‘hearing,’ or obedience, involves the physical hearing that inspires the hearer, and a belief or trust that in turn motivates the hearer to act in accordance with the speaker’s desires.”

So, biblical obedience to God means to hear, trust, submit and surrender to God and his Word.”

QUESTIONS FOR THE FIELD

• What is ‘the good fight’? Your particular good fight?
• How do ‘fighting the good fight’ and listening to and trusting God come together for you?
• Where does ‘taking hold of eternal life’ play a part in your daily life?

FAMILY FIELD TALK

• Find other words or phrases for ‘fight’, like struggle, wrestle or maybe ‘being formed’.
• How do you ‘fight’ for right without physical weapons?

PRAYER GUIDE 
Holy God, Enliven my head, my heart, my ears so that I can hear your desires and commands.  Like Jesus, I want to stand before the Pilates of this world as one of your own.  Where I falter, raise me up again to do your bidding.  In Christ’s name, Amen.