PURSUE THE RIGHT THINGS
Read 2 Timothy 2:22.
It is not enough to merely flee the evil desires within us. We must flee to a place of safety.
One summer Lyanne and I spent a week in Palm Beach, Florida. Walking on a deserted beach one afternoon after a nice lunch, it began pouring down rain, and not the kind of gentle showers we have in Seattle, but a torrential downpour. Along with the rain came the booming thunder and the flash of lightning at a very uncomfortable rate. You could watch the lightning from the beach striking the ocean maybe a mile out or so. It may as well have been 100 yards out because instinctively we began to run down the beach to find shelter. Was it any wonder we were the only ones on the beach? Along the beach were a number of sun-shading umbrellas (really more like open half tents), so we decided to wait inside until the storm passed. There we sat huddled inside this small shelter, rain pouring down, lightning striking close by. And then it occurred to us with more than a little shock – the entire fortress in which we sought shelter was propped up by an aluminum frame. Looking down the beach, we sat inside the only thing made of metal. Like lightning rods shoved into the ground, these structures seemed to us to be a perfect attraction for a lightning bolt. We found ourselves repeating over and over, “We are S-T-U-P-I-D!”
If one is to flee something bad or evil, he must run to a place of safety, not to another place of evil. Trading one evil activity for another is not an option. We must flee to a real place of safety.
In the passage today, Paul says the best way to flee evil is to pursue good. It is not enough to stop bad practices; one must flee and pursue good practices. What are we to pursue? Paul mentions four areas. And take note that these are to be pursued – an active chasing after, taking initiative. We are called to pursue:
1) Righteousness: that which is right in the eyes of God. This speaks of moral integrity.
2) Faith: that which trusts in God enough to follow Him even when we can’t see the results.
3) Love: that which expresses the love of God to others. It means pursuing others as God pursued us – a love in which God sacrificed His only Son.
4) Peace: that which expresses God’s value of relationship with a spirit of reconciliation and peacekeeping.
Much could be said about each of these. For today, however, consider each of these areas in your life. How are you PURSUING righteousness? Faith? Love? Peace? If we spend our time pursuing these godly qualities, we will find little time to pursue youthful lusts and other things that are destructive and displeasing to God.
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Questions for Home Groups
1) Discuss what it looks like to pursue – to chase after, take initiative – these four areas: Righteousness, Faith, Love, and Peace.
2) Which area is most difficult for you to pursue? Why? (Alt. Is there a situation in your life in which pursuing one of these qualities is a struggle?)
3) The verse ends with the statement, “pursue… along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” How can the group help one another in any of the problem areas discussed?