FLEE AND PURSUE

2 TIMOTHY 2:22 NKJ 
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 

Writing to a young man dear to his heart Paul instructs Timothy on how to live this life.   

There are things that are dangerous and things that need to be pressed hard after.   

Flee youthful lusts. These are the strong desires that can dominate the young. And that would include the young spiritually. These desires are not limited to sexual desires, although they would certainly be included. The youthful desires would also include the desires for status, position, and to be seen. Anything having to do with pride. We can add greed, selfishness, and unchecked responses to feelings. This list can go on, but Paul did not spend much time focusing on the negative. He just said flee. Run from those things as you would something dangerous.   

But some things are to be pressed hard after. Righteousness. What is right in God's sight.   

Faith. Choosing to believe God and His word and then acting on that as opposed to feelings or that which appeals to the senses. Faith is how we entered this life with God. Faith is how we continue to walk with Him.   

Love. The unselfish unconditional God kind of love. It's what Jesus commanded us to do.   

Peace with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart. Pressing hard after peace with other believers would involve looking past many faults and mistakes. Most things are not worth fighting about, but peace between the body of Christ is worth pursuing.   

APPLICATION: 

If we are pressing hard after those four things, we will be occupied. Pursing these qualities will also give us a focus and help us eliminate the youthful lusts.   

We are so busy following righteousness, faith, love, and peace we will not have an excess of time to engage in things that are not important or harmful.   

The key word here is pursue. This is a goal. We are not floating through life down here; we are pressing hard after these four things that put us on the right track. So don't simply flee. Flee and pursue.   

PRAYER: 

Show me, Lord, what I need to flee from in my life. And what I can press harder towards in the four areas You have revealed.