In Season and Out of Season, 2 Timothy 4:2,5

²Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-- with great patience and careful instruction. ...⁵keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

     Paul's last words of advice for his brother Timothy encouraged him to remain steadfast in spreading the gospel no matter what circumstances would bring about. He commanded him to correct and rebuke those would need it, and to encourage those who need encouraging, all with great patience and careful instruction. He told Timothy to keep his head in all situations, not becoming distressed or emotional but steadfast in faith, to endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, and perform all the duties of his God-given ministry. What stands out to me the most, though, is when Paul said, "be prepared in season and out of season". Taking the verse in context, I believe that Paul is referring to preaching the word. What exactly is it to be ready to preach the word in season and out?

     We all go through different seasons in our spiritual lives. There are times when we seem to be given opportunity after opportunity to share our faith and lead people to Christ. Then there are drier times when we wonder if we are hearing from God at all. There are times of great growth, when it seems as though every Bible study and every sermon touches our hearts and ignites a fire within our souls, and there are times when it seems that no matter how much we study, no matter how many sermons we hear, that God is somehow distant and quiet, as though He were sitting back and watching us but not actively involved in our lives.
     Within those different seasons and all the in-between stages I did not mention, we will at some times feel more like serving the Lord and sharing the gospel, and at some times feel less like doing so. We may be tempted in the winters of our souls to put off a daily Bible study as it doesn't seem to be doing any good anyhow. We may be tempted to, on the mountain tops, cease our furvent prayer life as it seems to have paid off. But Paul tells Timothy-- Be prepared in season and out of season.
     There is not a season of life in which we don't need to prepare ourselves to do the will of God. There is not one time when we can assume that God will not use us and therefore we don't need to be ready for His using us. We need to be ready, at any moment, to share the truth and preach the word. We need to have our spiritual eyes open at all times, being ever ready to do what God is calling us to do. We should never be too busy or too lazy or too sure of ourselves that we stop relying on God, stop studying His word, and stop preparing ourselves to do that which He may call us to do. Every day of our lives could be the last day. Any moment we could breathe our last breath. This very minute Jesus could come back and call us all to go home and be with Him. We don't have any assurance of time, and thus we must make the most of the time we have, despite what seasons we may be going through in our life at any given time.

     As we go out into our world, as we go through life doing what we have to do, we need to keep our spiritual eyes open. By this I mean, even as we go to the grocery store we should always have in our minds that God could bring someone along our paths to share His love with. We should always have in our hearts to be a witness for Christ. There is never a time when we are not a witness for Christ, whether we are "witnessing" or not. Just being Christian causes us to be a witness for Christ. I believe that there should never be a time when we fall asleep, so-to-speak, spiritually, when we forget that we are His witnesses, when we forget that there is a lost and perishing world around us, when we don't consciously realize that we are here as His messengers of the good news of salvation.
     In my own life, personally, I try to make sure that no matter where I am, no matter what I am doing, that I am above all keeping in fellowship and communion with God, and by doing thus keeping myself always available to do that which He is calling me to do. As I go throughout my day, there is hardly a moment when I don't remember that those around me who don't know Him are perishing in their sin, that they need Jesus. And thus I want to be ready to share Christ's love and forgiveness-- whether God is calling me to do so at that moment (in season) or waiting for the perfect moment sometime in the future (out of season). But even in having this perspective it is easy to shrink back in fear and not be obedient in sharing the word-- and so, such a perspective ought always and foremost be accompanied by much prayer, as should any other part of our lives. Without Him, we can do nothing. This I believe.