Enlisted

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By Isaac Tan, 20, Singapore

In the not so distant history, I packed up my bags and “obligingly offered” myself up to National Service—the mandatory enlistment into army by all Singaporean young men.

With a short introduction and a pledge of allegiance, I dedicated two years to protect Singapore with my life. Though it hasn’t been a bed of roses, for the most part, it has been fun.

The picture of a soldier is one that the Bible portrays on a few occasions, one of which is found in 2 Timothy 2:3-4.

“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him” [ESV].

The soldier of Christ Jesus is described here as good. As sinners, none of us is “good.” Hence, this “good” is not based on our morality but on what Christ has done for us. We have been made right with God through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). Now we are His.

As a good soldier, we are called to endure suffering. Our service to Christ will be met with difficulties and we shall “share in [His] suffering”. But we can take heart in the fact that our suffering is only for a little while. 1 Peter 5:10 reaffirms this for us. After we have suffered for a little while, we shall revel in God’s promised eternal glory.

For Christ is the one who has enlisted us, verse 4 reminds us of our response. We are to have the single-minded desire to please our Commanding Officer. We do so by not being entangled by civilian affairs. While the term “civilian affairs” may seem to segregate spiritual from secular things, this is not the case. All that we do—both spiritual and secular things—should be acted in accordance to the Word of God. The lesson really is: a soldier in service should not get distracted by things which serve his or her personal needs, leading them to forget or neglect to please the One who has enlisted them.

Like a soldier, we seek to please Him who has enlisted us. This is our utmost priority. This life we live is not our own to keep, for Christ has saved us by His grace, that we may live and can be called His children. In all that we do, we focus on the person, works and teachings of Jesus and strive to lead a life that pleases Him.

What are the things in our life today that is distracting us from serving Him wholeheartedly and desiring His pleasure? Jesus says, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).

The things of earth I leave behind
To live in worship of my King
His is the right to rule my life
Mine is the joy to live for him

Lyrics from “This Life I Live” by Michael Morrow