Latest / The Daily Word / June 24 – Pursue, Don’t Just Avoid
Transcript
- Brandon: Well, welcome once again to another episode of the Daily Word Podcast. My name is Brandon, and I am one of the pastors' leaders at our church. And like always, it is a privilege and an honor to welcome you today to the Daily Word Podcast. In case you're just joining us, our goal every single time that we do this is twofold. Number one, it is to bring an encouraging or a challenging thought from the scripture. From our daily reading, but also at the same time to remind you and encourage you that God wants to spend time with you. And so I'm praying today that you get encouraged, challenged even from the scripture, and also that you're reminded and even s inspired to go spend time with God in the secret place because God wants to speak to you. Today, our New Testament reading from the Life Journal, and that's what we use. We use the Life Journal. Our New Testament reading today in the Life Journal, it is First Timothy chapter six. And the verse I want to share with you today is 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 11. And I have a very, very simple thought for you. it's not complicated at all, but I think it really could be profound if you will lay hold of it. And here's here's what it is. It's from 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 11. Paul's writing this, and he says ⁓ to Timothy, a young son in the faith, but you, ⁓ man of God, I'll just say side note. Don't compare and contrast your life with other people. Just don't do that. We ought to live with a as for me and my household mentality. I don't care what Billy Bob down the street's doing. I don't care what my neighbor's doing, what my what my what my ⁓ my coworkers are doing. ⁓ as for me, Paul says, Timothy, as for you, ⁓ man of God. Hey, hey Timothy, I don't care about that joker. I'm talking to you. You, ⁓ man of God. Here's what he says: flee. These things, flee these things, but pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Verse 12: fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called, and have confessed the good fesh confession in the presence of many witnesses. And here's the thing that occurs to me today as I'm reading. That sometimes when we put focus and attention on avoiding things, all my attention, all my focus is I'm just trying to like not do these bad things. You know, I'm I've really been struggling and I'm just trying to not say bad words anymore. I'm just really trying to, you know, not have this attitude anymore. I'm I'm trying to really get my life together. And when we put all of our focus and all of our energy and all of our attention on avoiding not doing, what What ends up happening is we end up doing the things and sometimes becoming even more bound and tripped up in the things that we're trying to avoid. I I I can't really explain it and I don't know what that is, except for we see this in scripture that for all the years that the law has been in existence, that the law trying to follow and adhere to the law, the law has only reminded and tripped us up even more. And and and yet we we are to avoid those things. So how is it that we avoid those things? Well, I think that Paul, the Apostle Paul, gives us a little bit of a direction here. He says, But you, O man of God, flee these things and listen to this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and and and gentleness. Here's the observation I'd like to make. It is impossible to go in two opposite directions at the same time. If I were to say to you, I want you to at this moment go right and go left. Well, you can't do both. You you pull up to a stop sign, and if your GPS says, take a right and left hand turn right now, you'd be like, I can't do that. Chat GPT and Google Maps has officially lost its mind. I cannot go two directions at the exact same time. Well, what we have to realize is that sin. ⁓ unrighteousness, the flesh, the world, th things that are not of God, they're literally in the opposite direction of righteousness, holiness, godliness, all the things that God wants us to to to pursue and for us to become, they're in the opposite direction. So here's the thought: rather than focusing on not doing the wrong things. What we just put our attention and our focus on pursuing Jesus? What if we stopped pursuing or focusing rather on avoiding and we started focusing on pursuing? Here's what would happen: we would find ourselves by the simple fact that you cannot go in two opposite directions at the same time. We would find ourselves avoiding. Fleeing that which we've always tried to avoid and flee, but not because we're trying to avoid and flee it, but rather because we're moving in the opposite direction, pursuing the things of God. What if you said, you know what? I'm I'm gonna stop trying to like not do bad things. Rather, I'm gonna put all of my energy into saying, I just want to pursue Jesus. I want to know him more. I want to grow in relationship with him. I want to be in his presence. I want to fill my heart with his word. I want to meditate and memorize in his word. I want to worship him. I want to be in God's house. I want for him to be the north star of my life and the one who I'm trying to become. What if all of our energy went into I just want to pursue Jesus? Here's what would happen you would find yourself almost overnight becoming a totally different person. Not because you're trying to not be bad. Or you're trying to avoid, but rather because you're pursuing in the opposite direction, the one whom our heart and our life was meant to pursue. So here's my encouragement to you today, however it finds you. What are the things that you're trying to avoid and that you're trying to maybe rid your life of? What if you said, you know what, rather than focusing on that, I'm gonna focus on pursuing and becoming more of who God wants me to be? I'm gonna focus on going after Jesus and chasing Jesus and chasing the things of God. It's what Paul says, but you, O man of God, flee these things. Don't go in that direction. Rather, in the opposite direction, pursue righteousness, pursue godliness, pursue faith, pursue love, pursue patience, pursue gentleness. You keep on fighting the good fight of faith, laying hold of eternal life. That's my prayer for you that you would put your focus and attention today. On pursuing and running hard after Jesus. And the result of that would be a life that has fled from and is now free from all that which once entangled you. God, today I pray for every single person who is listening, including myself, that God, you would you'd make our heart hungry for you today. Give our heart more of a hunger and more of a love for the things of God than ever before. God, would you help us to run and chase hard and after you and I pray that as we're pursuing you God that we would indeed find ourselves having fleed from and bred from that which used to entangle us in Jesus' name amen and amen. Hey today I'm hoping that was an encouragement to you and that it blessed you remember today God wants to speak to you find time today to go spend time in the scripture asking the Holy Spirit to speak to you. We love you so much and we'll see you to tomorrow on another episode of the Daily Word podcast.