1 Timothy 6:11-16

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.  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.  I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

God calls us to be different as a contrast to the world around us and the false teachers that are being greedy for money.  The minister of God is expected to be transformed by the power of the Gospel and to be an instrument of transformation in the lives of others.  We are unable to do that if we are so wrapped up in the world and the systems of this world that are so consumed by the desire to become rich.  Paul tells Timothy to run from that thinking and cling firmly onto the cross of Christ.

WHAT TO DO: Like Joseph in the grasp of Potiphar’s wife, when faced with the temptation of sin, we must run away.  Temptation is not to be trifled with and we must not allow our curiosity about sin to cause us to hang around or think we can dabble in it.  Remember that sin is a trap from which it can be almost impossible to escape so RUN.  However, we are not to run aimlessly, we are to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.  These six qualities are worthy of building into our lives day after day.  The word “pursue” is so appropriate because we will never “catch” these qualities to perfection so we must constantly seek to build them into our lives.  The Holy Spirit is at work in us to conform us to the image of Christ are the building blocks of Christian character.  We are to take hold of eternal life as our most precious hope and never be distracted from the goal of Christ’s character that is being formed in us.

WHY TO DO IT: The reason that we should flee from sin, pursue Christ’s character, and hold tightly to eternal hope is the work of Christ on the cross.  He gave His life that we might be saved from sin and enjoy the presence of the Lord for eternity.  Jesus us coming back and will make all things right.  He will reward faithfulness generously and we will never be sorry for having obeyed Him.  He is the sovereign of the universe, King of kings, Lord of lords.  He is eternal and offers eternity to us.  He dwells in unapproachable light and yet He humbled Himself and came to us that we might live forever with Him.  His honor and glory is the purpose of our lives and the focus of our eternal life with Him.  We will have the honor of living in His presence and ruling and reigning with Him forever.  What He has done for us, what He is doing in us, and what He will accomplish with us are the reasons we should life in obedience.  The result will be glory to the Lord Jesus Christ which He will graciously share with us!!

APPLICATION: Don’t be curious about sin or think that we can experiment with sin for a brief time and then get away from it.  Flee from every form of temptation.  Proactively build the Character of Christ in our lives and trust Him to complete His work through the Spirit.  Long for and live in light of our eternal destiny with Jesus.  Praise, thank, and glorify Christ for His amazing work in and for us.

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