Christian Soldier, Do Not Get Entangled in Civilian Matters!

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In 2 Timothy 2:4, the Apostle Paul, by the Holy Spirit, tells Timothy: "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier" (KJV). In other words, no man who fights in a war allows himself to become engrossed in civilian life so he will please his commander.

But that begs the question: what specifically are the "affairs of this life" that Paul is alluding to here? We must recognize that Paul here makes this category the opposite of "warreth" and "pleas[ing] him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." So, a soldier strives to please his commander and fight in the war his commander has made him a soldier in. What is other than that and what distracts from that are what constitute the "affairs of this life" that Paul is talking about here. When we take into account that Christ is the Christian's Commander, as well as the facts that 1) what pleases Christ is trust, love, and obedience toward Him and His Word and 2) the war He calls Christians to fight in is the war against sin (in themselves and in the world), which is fought by preaching, advancing, and defending the Gospel of Christ in the Bible, then we realize that all that competes for our focus are the affairs of this life that we are to not entangle ourselves in.

Christian, soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the mission your Commander has assigned to you. Make it your life's objective!