Read with Me
1 Timothy 6:11-16 (HCSB)
But you, man of God, run from these things,
and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, endurance, and gentleness.
Fight the good fight for the faith;
take hold of eternal life
that you were called to
and have made a good confession about
in the presence of many witnesses.
In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you to keep the command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will bring this about in His own time. He is
the blessed and only Sovereign,
the King of kings,
and the Lord of lords,
the only One who has immortality,
dwelling in unapproachable light;
no one has seen or can see Him,
to Him be honor and eternal might.
Amen.
Listen with Me
Paul has just been writing about how the pursuit of worldly wealth can warp the human heart, and how it can even lead people to warp the gospel, twisting it into a means of financial gain.
Now, Paul urges Timothy to flee from that kind of pursuit, and instead to earnestly pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness as more worthy goals. It is not a stretch to see in those goals worthy of pursuit and largely echo of the Fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
Since our earthly life will ultimately have to be laid down and any worldly wealth we have gained left behind, a more worthy goal is to pursue eternal life, which will last forever and will never disappoint. This is the calling not just for pastors and leaders, but for every Christian.
Just as those in the world look forward to the date and investment will mature or the time when an investment opportunity will open, the man or woman of the kingdom is focused on the day when Jesus will return. Even though the date and time is unknowable (Matthew 24:36), the return itself is inevitable. And when it happens there will be no time to switch our focus from worldly wealth to heavenly treasures. So, the time to focus well is now.
It is vital to realize that the Christian life is not something that a person simply enters and coasts along in until the end. Paul uses many active verbs here run, pursue, fight, take hold. At every moment, there is potential to move forward, or to allow ourselves to come to a standstill, or even to turn away from the path into a different way. To simply “go with the flow” is to be swept off the way of Jesus and into the backwater of the world.
Pray with Me
Father, thank you for this reminder that we can’t just drift along to heaven. The path to heaven tends to be uphill more than down, and full of effort rather than full of ease. During those times that I have allowed myself to just coast for a while, I find that I have not grown stronger or more in tune with your agenda but have lost ground. Lord, help me to be active in the pursuit of Your kingdom, not just in the work, but in our relationship as well. Amen.