S. 1 Timothy 6:11-12
11 But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.
O. I would like to focus in on a few words which I will call "key words" in this passage.
Pursue - (Greek, Dioko) which means "aggressively chase after like a hunter pursuing a catch or prize."
Fight - (Greek, agonizomani) of which we get our word agonize. This means to strive or to contend like in an athletic contest or warfare. To struggle.
Hold tightly (Greek, epilambanomai) to take hold of, to seize, to have focused resolve.
Paul writes Timothy instructing him to aggressively chase after a life of godliness. It is not an easy thing to do when you live in a fallen world. There are so many things that can or will distract us from our calling to serve as light for the Lord. In fact, Paul says in v. 11 "to run away from these evil things."
To live a godly life of faith, love, perseverance and gentleness, it's going to take on our part, diligently pursuing, fighting/struggling and then holding tightly onto our Lord.
A. When I encourage people to work through their marriage, or to get off whatever is addicting to them, it's not easy. It's not going to be easy. But if we will purse, fight and hold tightly as mentioned above, we will shine as lights to others who are witnessing our life.
P. So I encourage you to join me in this prayer, "Father, thank you for the reminder and encouragement. I pray for strength and for the ongoing filling of the Holy Spirit to give me focus and strength to pursue, fight, and hold tightly onto the calling I have to serve and live for you. I praise you, in Jesus' name!
