Right Pursuits

This morning I felt lead to these verses from Paul's first letter to Timothy - 1 Timothy 6:11-12 NIV
[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."

I was thinking about what great examples we would be if we all pursued righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. The context of this was Paul urging Timothy not to pursue money and wealth, because of the dangers associated with that path, but to focus on those things listed. Additionally, his encouragement is to take hold of the eternal life to which he is called, and to fight the good fight of faith.

I find the phrase "take hold of the eternal life" interesting, and looked at the original Greek, and it means exactly that - to grab hold of this eternal life. I find this interesting because there is little we could do to actually lay hold of eternal life, aside from coming into relationship with Jesus, whose gift of eternal life is His to give.

I think Paul's encouragement has more to do with his previous contextual comments, namely settling ones mind and heart after what one will pursue in life, money and fame, of eternal life with Christ. Not that the two are mutually exclusive, but Paul is giving direct guidance to Timothy. In the very next paragraph Paul gives Timothy guidance on how to encourage those who are wealthy, so these verses should not be construed to mean that this is the only path, but they are directly focused on Timothy. Is it possible Timothy had a proclivity to lean towards the pursuit of wealth and money?

Regardless, the encouragement and call to righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness is good for us all. The call to remember and hold onto the call we all have heavenward, to hold onto our faith with significant effort - is equally important. I think we can see here the value of these treasures - our faith and relationship with Jesus. We should hold into them as the most precious possessions. We should struggle daily increase our hold, never slacking in our grasp or pursuit.

I just had an image pop into my mind, one of those crazy competitions for radio stations where they used to give away a car, and do so by having people keep their hand in the car. The last person to remove their hand won the car. I was thinking about the things we do, camping outside stores or ticket booths to Mae sure we have a sure opportunity to grab hold of those things we greatly desire, whether its the new iPhone, or tickets to the superbowl. In the same way, we are encouraged to persevere and hold onto our faith and life in Christ. We should make sure our lives are seasoned with the fruit of the Spirit, and fruit of our relationship with Jesus - these are so much better to pursue than wealth and money. I am encouraged to grab hold of the life that is available in Christ.