In the midst of it all, the Lord is good to continue to speak to me and equip me for the task at hand. Ashley and I have had a BLAST painting this past week. I went to Waco over the weekend to see my parents and my grandmother. I got the chance on Sunday morning to just relax and hang out with Jesus for a bit. It was a powerful, illuminating time. Here is what I learned . . .
1st Timothy 6:11-12 . . . pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
We often wonder what to pursue. The world screams - PURSUE ME - in a hundred different ways. This scripture is very specific about some things that we should be pursuing. I spent some time picking this apart and looking at each worthy pursuit. I hope it will be as helpful to you as it was to me.
Pursue righteousness -- righteousness means justice, fairness, goodness, honor, uprightness and virtue. It is pursuing a "right" relationship with the Lord.
Pursue godliness -- godliness can also mean holiness. It is to pursue building character that reflects the character of God.
Pursue faith -- faith means belief, certainty, confidence, assurance and conviction. Faith means to trust in something and fortunately, true faith places its trust in Jesus. Because of who Jesus is - I can be certain, confident and assured. My faith is placed in the One who is Faithful.
Pursue love -- love means adoration, allegiance, delight, devotion, fervor, fidelity, passion, respect, tenderness, yearning and zeal. WOW - no wonder love gets so complicated. But as I look at this description, I realize that loving God first and foremost allows me to love others with this kind of energy.
Pursue perseverance -- I automatically grit my teeth when I think of the word perseverance. It means diligence, hard work, determination, drive, endurance, grit, guts, persistence, purposefulness, stamina and tenacity. Without pursuing perseverance, I'm not sure we can really pursue the others.
Pursue gentleness -- I looked up the word gentleness and one definition was "deliberate mildness." I find the word deliberate very interesting. It also means kindness, tenderness and interestingly enough - caution. You have to choose gentleness. It is not the default setting for most of us.
After this list, we are told to:
Fight the good fight of faith
Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.
To pursue something is so active. The word reeks of intent, purpose, choice and direction. The Christian life is anything but passive.
Is this life worth it?
Is this life worth our energy and efforts to pursue these things?
Verses 13 - 16 answers these questions.
God gives life to all things
Jesus is the blessed and only Sovereign
The king of Kings
The Lord of Lords
Who Alone possesses immortality
and dwells in the unapproachable light
To Him be the honor
Embrace this life you have been given.
Pursue that which
is worthy
for the One
who is Worthy
above all.
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