Friday 9 February, 2018

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

The world would say “You are number one. Spoil yourself. Pursue fame and fortune.”

But God says “Run from the love of money and pursue righteousness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.”

I think this is about our focus in life. It does not mean that we cannot have nice things in this world, but that our focus should be on generosity and purity before God. However, that is not always simple. It is easy to get distracted by material possessions or things which lead us away from God. That is why Paul tells Timothy to “Hold tightly to the eternal life God has given you”.

Many people criticise Christianity as a “crutch” in life for the weak. But it takes real muscle to continue to do things God’s way, and to stand up for what we believe in.

Lord, Help us to stand firmly, ”fighting the good fight”, clinging to purity, perseverance, generosity and gentleness so that we can be prepared for your return. We honour “the blessed and only almighty God, the King of Kings and Lord of lords”.

Written by Megan Cornell