Covetousness and greed are idolatry. Does that mean that we should live a docile life, void of any strong urges, lest we find ourselves immersed in idolatry? No! That is not what that means.
In 1 Tim. 6:11 Paul
uses two words that are strong, aggressive responses to idolatry. Before we talk about these words, note that this
passage is addressed to “you, O man of God.”
It is given to the man whose desire is to pursue God, the true God, the
one God. Paul, in the context uses this
of Timothy, his spiritual son who is apparently a bit fearful and timid (2 Tim.
1:7). The “man of God” is the man with
the broken and contrite heart (Ps. 51:17; 34:18). He desires a life yielded to Christ, a life
consistent with his profession of faith (1 Tim. 6:12-13). He is the person who worships the “blessed
and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has
immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see,
to whom be honor and everlasting power” (6:15-16). These words are directed to that man, the “man
of God.”
Having said that, the
first word is “flee.” With the same
strength we use in the “desire to be rich” we must now use to run away from the
“desire to be rich.” He did not say “drift
away” or “in good time, eventually, you will need to diminish your idolatrous
ways.” He said to flee these
things. They are, again, destructive pursuits
that will bring many sorrows, and even the eternal sorrows of perdition.
Remember the casual
idolatry of Judah? Their problem was
that they wouldn’t destroy the high places.
There were times they worshipped the true God, but they never pulverized
the things in their lives that facilitated idolatry, that made it easy. We must destroy these things, putting them to
death. That is what it means to flee.
The second word in
6:11 is “pursue.” As you study the New
Testament you will find that zeal is a significant part of the Christian life
(e.g. Titus 2:15). But our aggressive
pursuit is the pursuit of God. Thus, we
are pursuing the things of God, the life of God. In 6:11 these things are “righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.”
These were all present and proven in the earthly life of our Lord, and
thus are fundamental to the life He has given us. (There is a similar statement in 2 Tim. 2:22:
“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with
those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”)
This “fleeing” and “pursuing”
is a great part of the “good fight of faith” (6:12). Furthermore, there is a strong connection
between eternal life and our exclusive relationship with the one and only true
God (again, cf. 6:12). We have been
called to eternal life. By faith in
Christ we have it, and yet we are ever growing in this life. Remember John 17:3, that Jesus said the
essence of eternal life is knowing the true God. The Apostle John said the same thing in 1
John 5:20, that Christ has given us understanding that we may know the true
God. “This is the true God and eternal
life.” Then John added, “Little
children, keep yourselves from idols.” We
lay hold of the eternal life Christ has given us as we grow in our relationship with
the true God. This pursuit of God will
be our life and joy for eternity. May we
be fully engaged in the pursuit of God now!
(And now, having
refrained from quoting Tozer, may I heartily recommend his book, The Pursuit
of God. One of my favorites to read
and study and make available to others.)
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