“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:11 NIV
Reflection: what are you currently pursuing or chasing after?
On a recent travel with my son to Philadelphia, an elderly gentleman came over and sat down at our table. No big deal, as we were just sitting in the lobby waiting for our hotel room to be ready. And after a short while, a couple came over to him, and acted as if they had seen a celebrity. He stood up, they hugged and took several pictures. I overheard something about the man being a professor, a teacher of some kind. The couple left, and I couldn’t help but to engage the man, saying “that was a very warm greeting!” The man proceeded telling my son and I humbly that these were students of his from long ago, from a different country.
Turns out the man is a very famous orthodontist, and they all had been there for a national conference. But he is a very humble man, never talking about his achievements but instead talks about the relationships he had built over the years. We learned that he spent his time traveling to poor countries, teaching the dentists there. He could have probably made a lot more money focusing on his practice in the United States. But that wasn’t as important to him as the help he could offer, and relationships he built by doing so. After learning that my son was in medicine, the man proceeded giving him some life advice along these lines, and some books to read. He then got up, and left to catch a flight home to Dallas.
I was thinking to myself, did God send this man over to our table? Honestly, it felt as if he did. It was such a “out of the ordinary” moment, but so beautiful. And it reminded me today of what Paul wrote to his appearance Timothy in our focus verse today. In the previous section, he warns about following alternative doctrines, and the pursuit of money and wealth. That for many, such pursuits will lead to falling away from the faith, from the narrow path God has for us through this life. He ends the paragraph by stating famously “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10 NIV. Paul says to Timothy,
“But you, man of God, flee from all this”
Flee, meaning literally run the opposite direction. Instead, he says, there is a much better pursuit, of “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:11b NIV. It sounds good, right? But let me ask you, is this even practical? I mean we need an income. We need food, a house, a car, and so on. Seems a bit over the top perhaps? But when I think back to the elderly man we met in Philadelphia, what he took great pleasure in talking about when looking back at his life. It wasn’t the money or things. It wasn’t even his accomplishments in his profession. It was the people he had touched. The help he had given those in need. The relationships he had built.
It is such an important lesson for all of us to remember, and to live by. Paul then says to Timothy “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.” 1 Timothy 6:12 NIV.