Read 2 Timothy, 2:1-7
:1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus
:2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

1st requirement: To be of purpose, you must be a Teacher--Pass the message to others.

1. Forces you to get into the word: As every teacher knows, the teacher always learns more than the students. You have to or you'll look silly when the first question is asked.
2. Forces you to clarify: Reading on our own, we don't have to know exactly what it means, but when teaching others, that's the first thing they'll ask about.
3. Forces you to conviction: I Thessalonians 1:4-5 "For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction."
4. Forces you to be accountable for what you teach, you are responsible to God for everything you say in teaching others.

:3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer.

2nd requirement: To be of purpose, you must be a Soldier--Endure hardship

1. We are in a battle. Ephesians 6:10-12 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
2. Being a soldier is a full-time job--Marines say if we wanted you to have a wife we would have issued you one.
3. You must satisfy your commander to be successful. Our commander is God. I remember very clearly my first day in BASIC when we were sent to our training units. We loaded up on a cattle truck, thats what it looked and smelled like, max occupancy listed at 45, we had 60 with full gear. They drove us for an hour in 100 degree weather. We stopped in front of the barracks and a huge man yanked open the door and yelled, "You have 1 minute to get off my bus and 30 seconds are already gone." We rushed at the door and as I was leaving I fell right at the Drill Sergeant's feet. I looked up at this 7 or 8 foot tall guy and wanted to please him more than anything else in the world.

:5 Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.

3rd requirement to be of purpose--Be an Athlete--compete according to rules

1. If you don't compete according to rules, you are disqualified.
2. Athletes focus: One of the speakers at the workshop had an accident some years ago that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He swam in a pool nearly every day as part of his therapy. One day, Gary noticed all the women in the water aerobics class watching him closely, he waved to them and kept on swimming. When he reached the end of the pool and turned, he noticed a red splotch in the water at the other end. He looked down and realized he was not wearing his trunks. He swam underwater the whole way in 10 seconds. That is focus.
3. For a chance to win, you have to finish the race: At school every spring we had a track and field for the clubs. I had trained for the 100m dash and the long distance runs. On track day our 400m runner didn't show up, so I figured I could run medium distance without any problem. Unfortunately, 400m is too long for a sprint pace and too short for a distance pace. I started out running for long distance and fell to the back, I changed to sprint and gained 2nd place by the third turn. Then I ran totally out of gas. I walked from turn three to the finish line, fell over the fence surrounding the track, stumbled to my room and promptly threw up.

   I Corinthians 9:24-30 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

:6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.

4th requirement--Be a farmer

The main point: Dedicated effort is rewarded, most likely not by money, but in seeing the gospel change lives. What a great thrill it is to see someone you worked with, studied with, and prayed for turn to God.

These four requirements to be of purpose are what it takes to be a Christian. You must teach, you must endure, you must compete according to the rules, and you must work.