2Tim 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith
Paul admonished us to endure hardship as a good soldier, race as an athlete and work hard as a farmer in facing challenges in life. He himself was no stranger to adversities of life, and Satan could never figure him out. He seemed to thrive in adversities. He always turned his disappointments into appointments, trials into triumph, weakness into strength, he thrived in places many of us would be defeated and quit.
He demonstrates that he lived what he preached until the end. He now reflects on the journey of faith and the means by which he made it, all by God’s sufficient grace. As he anticipated the transition, he was confident of what he was leaving behind, a testimony of a house that mercy built. This brings to memory a phrase in C.T. Studd, a missionary and a pastor’s poem “…Only one life,’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” A man who lived as Paul lived, His testimony does not die with him but continue longer than his own life on earth. Jam 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (NIV).