Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

I Timothy 6:12, RSV

 

By this time in our reading through the New Testament it should be abundantly clear that our motivation for doing so is that we might someday have eternal life with God in Heaven. This is a critical motivation, but it should go far beyond just saving ourselves. We have others whom we must help as well.

 

If any one does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

I Timothy 5:8, RSV

 

We often think of this passage as being concerned with physical things such as food and shelter, and rightfully so, for this is definitely the focal point of this verse. Yet how often do we think of our most important responsibility concerning our families, namely, their salvation? If we are worse than an unbeliever for not taking care of their physical needs, than how evil must we appear in the eyes of God when we ignore the care of their souls?

 

Carolyn and I have three children, plus two more bonus children in our in-laws. They are grown now (allegedly) but we still pray for them every day and encourage them in their journey to Heaven whenever we are together. We have also been blessed with five grandchildren! They range from one year to ten years in age. We pray all the time for their physical well-being, that they will grow up healthy and safe. However, this is not our main concern, nor is it our main responsibility in God's eyes. So what is our main duty in regards to our precious family?

 

It is the salvation of their eternal souls! They must grow up to be servants of Christ, and they cannot do that without the proper training to do so. Their parents are righteous people and are doing a marvelous job, but that does not excuse the grandparents from doing theirs. The fact is that the journey to Heaven is not a solo trip. Now please don't misunderstand my point. I am not saying for a moment that we have collective salvation wherein the entire "tribe" is saved or lost. What I am saying is that the quest for the eternal life that we are commanded to take hold of is a much easier task when we have support in doing so. And that is what family is for!

 

So, as you continue your studies, make sure that your purpose is expanded to your family. You are a believer, aren't you? The we must act like those who truly believe that their loved ones will spend an eternity somewhere, just like we will. It behooves us, then, to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make sure that our families, our children and our children's children, are on that righteous path to Heaven. Their eternal hope still rests firmly on the grace of God and the shed blood of Christ but, brothers and sisters, we have our part to do as well. So, let's get to work!

 

Today's reading is II Thessalonians 2-3, and I and II Timothy 1-2. They are jam-packed with information as to how we might take hold of the eternal life that we and our families were created for.