2 Timothy 2:1-13

2 Timothy 2:1-13 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Here in Paul's second letter to Timothy, he lifts up athletes and farmers as models of how the church ought to work.
  Think of how challenging it is to be a farmer.  Seed is sown, but there's no guarantee that anything happens after that.  There has to be faith and trust that the seed will grow into something, that the water and the work will ultimately result in a harvest.
  In the same way, we place our trust in God to shepherd the church forward.  We trust that God will do astounding things through the church, and we stay faithful, enduring to the end, because we trust that God's work will triumph in the end.  We trust in the outcome, even though the process is uncertain, and it's hard, and there will be plenty of temptations to find easier ways.  Just as the athlete is tempted to sleep in rather than wake up early and train, the Christian is tempted to be spiritually lazy, to trust in things other than God, to forget about the long-term and opt for short-term wins.
  If we endure, we reign with him.  Day after day, make the small choices, the right choices, and trust in the God who remains faithful.