1st Timothy 6:11. “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness,” FLEE OR FOLLOW AFTER. The attractions are always there for the ambitious ones to claim. The riches are there for the taking, and the door is open to fame. But for the man of God, there is a calling – a commitment that is much higher. He is not ready to sell his soul for a high bid to some attractive buyer. He recognizes he has already been bought and paid for by Christ’s blood. The claim his Savior has on him has been ratified with love. Now the man of God turns away and flees from riches many temptations And seeks to avoid the compromising that comes into these situations.
Before him lie, like shining lights, the characteristics of real life. Righteousness beckons him to follow; in its way, there is bright light. Godliness then is quickly met and joins in the upward climb – Faith is waiting there by a difficult turn, so assurance there he can find.
Love is there too, to smooth the way when the road gets rough. And patience lends its encouraging hand just when you think you’ve had enough. Meekness adds its character trait to all those he used before – All of which God uses instead of riches, and whose value is so much more.
The man of God chooses an upward path – riches will take one down. He chooses to climb to the mountaintop – the rich man goes downtown. The man of God finds his joy in things that cannot be bought with money. The ones who choose material things will someday have not any. The man of God follows after the things that make him like his Master. The one who wants to be rich wants a lifestyle that is much faster. But he will lose all he has at life’s end, and his future is eternal disaster. The man of God increasingly finds joy and meaning in what he follows after.
“Father of glory, God of all grace: may this traveler here before You be moved by Thy Spirit to flee any and all things that hinder me from being what I should be. Those things that characterize a man of God – I want each one to be in me and perhaps to be obvious enough without, that doors are opened to my witness for Thee. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”