In the book of First Timothy, chapter six, verses 11 and 12, the apostle Paul writes, but as for you, oh man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness, fight the good fight of the faith, take hold of eternal life to which you were called, and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
We see in this passage, that there are three actions that we need to be able to take, and we need to know when to take each one. The first one that we see in verse number 11, is to flee. There’s a time when God wants us to run from things. Yes, when temptation comes, run, when the opportunity to disobey the Lord comes, run as fast as you can. Flee the things that are evil, flee from temptation, and situations that put you in temptation.
Secondly, follow, pursue, we are to pursue some things and he gives us a wonderful list here, things that we need to dedicate our life to really seeking after. Listen to this list, and think about how you can apply these to your life. He says, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness, all such wonderful qualities. And I love the image of pursuing them chasing after them. Don’t let them get away from us. God wants us to live lives that are fulfilling and meaningful. And when they’re pleasing to Him, they will be fulfilling and meaningful to us. And so know when to flee and know when to follow.
And then thirdly, know when to fight. The expression that he used here in First Timothy 6:12, was to fight the good fight of the faith. There’s a time just to stand your ground and to fight against the devil, his temptations, his devices, we need to be strong and armed and ready to fight.
So pray for wisdom. There’s a time to flee. There’s a time to follow after and there’s a time to fight. Ask God to show you which one you need to be doing today.