Flee…pursue…with those who call on the Lord

Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. - 2 Timothy 2v22

It is tough to stand alone, isn’t it? From these words it is obvious that times were not all that different for us than they were in Paul’s day.

‘Flee youthful lusts,’ Paul says. Get away just as fast as you can. Don’t linger, don’t look, don’t wonder, don’t contemplate – just put on your running shoes and get out of there. Run like a scared chicken. Don’t play games. Don’t try to prove you are worldly wise and up to date. Naiveté is a good word.

The problem is that we have to live in a world which constantly encourages youthful lusts. So what do we do? Not only do we run from it, but we also chase after righteousness, faith, love, and peace. We run from one thing to another.

But we don’t do it alone. We do it with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. It is a team event. We work together. We are unified in our pursuit of these things. If we had to do it alone we would always fail. There would be no success.

This is why a local assembly of the body of Christ is so important. We need help in our fleeing and we need help in our pursuing. As an author put it a few years ago, ‘We Really Do Need Each Other.’