Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:11&12
11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Observation: We need to run away from things that take us from God and run towards things that make us more like God.
Application: Our pastor has been leading us through messages about the Holiness of God over the last few Sundays. Until we begin to grasp just how Holy God is and how unworthy we are it becomes extremely difficult to understand our need for salvation. We are sinful. We are unworthy. We are drawn in by sin and it separates us from God. Verse 11 reminds us to "flee" from the temptation of sin and love of wealth and security. When we accept sin into our lives we are pushing God away. When we believe that money and financial assets can make us self sufficient we begin to believe that we do not need God and that we can do it all on our own. This feeling is short lived as all earthly gains are short lived and eventually pass away.
However, when we chase after the things that God values, we draw closer to Him and draw others to Him as well by our words and our actions. The things God values are eternal and will not pass away. Drawing other to God also has eternal value but it is a fight against Satan who is threatening and wants to get in the way of all things good.
Our son started a new school this fall and has been boldly proclaiming his faith to his new peers. Conrad and I have been in awe of his boldness as he stands up for his beliefs and as he is even challenging his friends on big issues like evolution vs Creationism. 1 Timothy 6:12 says: "Fight the good fight of the faith" and Kaden is doing that boldly as he risks being rejected in new friendships and risks being looked at in a negative way by his non-believing peers. He is fighting. Fighting to share the truth. Fighting for what is right. Fighting and willing to risk it all in this new school environment. Fighting the good fight...
Prayer: Dear Lord. You are Righteous. You are faithful. You are loving. You are loving. You are steadfast. You are gentle. You are loving. All of these things remind us that You are Holy. Help us to strive to be Holy and to be more like You. Give us the courage to fight the good fight. In the presence of our peers, give us what we need to go into battle to show You to them. May they see in us that we are chasing after what You value and fleeing from sin. Amen.
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: 2 Samuel 6-8; 1 John 1
2 comments:
It hit me how many verbs were in out NT passage. Our faith cannot be passive. We cannot just sit back and expect transformation. Yes, we can only fight the good fight through the power of the Holy Spirit, but He commands us to action. We need to be purposeful about pursuing holiness and strengthening our faith.
1 Timothy 6:8 says, "But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content."
It is so easy to see what others have and to want what they have. Clothes they wear, vehicles they drive, trips they go on, the house they have. The list goes on, but our want list should not.
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