Like a person of wisdom and understanding, I can’t tell you in detail the full concept of the text and what it really is all about. Yet there is some extent to which I can understand the meaning of it in accordance with its derivation and text, which is Philippians 3:11-14. So, I’d like telling you in a way that would help us gaining momentum pressing towards the goal.
Around the year 2004, I have been crossing the road before boarding my bus to college in an underground pedestrian tunnel most of the days. I had a t-shirt printed with “Fight the good fight” on the back.
Among the daily commuters, my facial appearances and walking style might is different than the locals. Wherever you know, you’d feel that way. Moreover, the word combination of fight and good instill eagerness about the words, which again was taken from 1 Timothy 6:12.
Now imagine the campus filled with most people who are less likely to read the Bible as they do have their own holy books. It was a good thing to let them read and talk in short how and why the words meant to me.
When Youth Day was celebrated in our church, that year, I participated in a short sermon on this very topic – fighting the good fight. Since it still speaks to me and is one of the salient or foremost elements in pressing towards the goal, I will lay it out here again in short.
Living with Goals: Philippians 3:11-14
Set the goal first so that you fight for it. Pray to God to let you see your goal clearly. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus, declared Apostle Paul. (verse 14) There is no confidence in the flesh – a time will come when the flesh is consumed.
When the flesh is consumed, we had a better promised of holding a new life which Christ had took hold for us. By believing in Him and His promises, Christ will take hold of our if we did not perish in the periphery of the war zone while on earth or the so-called flesh.
Imagine living your life without goals; you’d be simply waiting for the time to get consumed without better hope. Like an object who happens to float in the space waiting to get mashed up. Like a boat without its sailors in the sea moving wherever the wind blows.
Ostensibly, the resulting life out of such living would be to get consumed; get extinct in its slightest term. Without fighting for survival and without fighting for the evil one, we’d be bound to perish any day soon. And that too, without getting hold of
the prize Christ laid for us.
The Good Fight:
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses,” wrote Paul to Timothy in his final charge. (1 Tim. 6:12)
We are living in a war-zone – in the world beautifully created by God but the Evil One trying to sabotage His divine plan. Our fight is not of the flesh but evil spirits, which cannot be seen by our human eye.
Yet we can take confidence in the promised of being a winner over the evil work of Satan. There’s a way to win in the name and power of the Jesus Christ. And we have our duties to perform; staying connected with Christ so that we may not get consumed in the battlefield.
The necessary armors for fighting the good fight are already listed out and up for grab in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 6:13-18:
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
While we press on towards the goal, these are the armors we should take as we give little importance to the material world.
Shredding Off Earthly Things:
It is not an easy race, which should not be taken for people without hope and faith. Without believing in Christ and His promises it’s a race that simply makes you tired; not enjoying your living yet finding joy in every circumstance for those who have hope in the Lord.
Once we joined the race and press on towards the goal, we should focus on not losing the race midway or anywhere before we win the race. And for that, we should rely on the strength of the Lord, which is renewed every morning.
We can become fatigued, losing ways, blinded by the evil, unable to defeat our desires while pressing towards the goals. But these are the earthly things that needed shredding off once in a while.
When you feel down, about to lose the plot, do not lose heart. If it may help, we are in the same place many times. There are people who pray for us. The guiding spirit is watching over us. What we need to do is the will to just one more step!
In any case and scenario, we can wait on the Lord to renew our strength until we finished the race.
Sharing out our difficulties, seeking help among the same runner with the same hope is helpful. It is an individual race, which we can run together as we can encourage each other on the way.
Yet when we find no help among human, it not the end of the road either. Tell it to Jesus; He’s the One who loves you the most.
Our heavy sigh of sadness, one day, would turn into a huge sigh of relief. Like the eagle, we’ll soar again, up in the sky and beyond the reach of the world. (Isaiah 40:31)
Towards the Goal:
Anything that doesn’t consume us will turn us into a better human if we trust in the Lord and program. Sometimes, we had our plans to reach the goal, but it doesn’t work that way. It works by surrendering to God’s will.
It is an edgy walk; it cannot always be in our comfort zone. By edgy, I meant to say that when in joy by the presence of the Lord nothing can torment us and when not in joy we always felt we’re on the verge of losing the plot.
If Christ had not really risen from the dead, it’d be foolish pressing towards the goal. For the unbeliever of His resurrection, it is not a race to be reckoned. And we see people not intending to join the race. But for me, it’s the goal of my life.
I wanted to end here with the words of Job. Despite his great suffering, here losing his skin, he knew the Lord’s on the way. And we too shall see our redeemer with our very own eyes, what a joy it shall be!
Job 19:25-27 reads:
I know that my Redeemer lives,
And that in the end, he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
Yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
With my own eyes – I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
