"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness."
1 Timothy 6:10-11
Part 1
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
Many things in this world can trip up the careless believer. If we allow ourselves to become mired down by the “deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things,” (Mark 4:19), we will be very ineffective in our service for our Lord. Paul warned Timothy not to become entangled in these things.
“But thou, O man of God, flee these things;”
Paul told Timothy that he needed to be different from others and to “flee” these traps. As a “man of God,” these things will make his testimony weak and unproductive. To “flee” means to get away and stay away from them. Strong defines it this way, “to run away (literally or figuratively); by implication to shun; by analogy to vanish: – escape, flee (away).” [1]
Our lives, believers, are all about glorifying our Lord and drawing others to Him. Anything that will dull our effectiveness for Christ needs to be put away from us. This ought to be a principle every believer adheres to, not just the preachers.
Instead of following “these things” like a puppy on a leash, we have a better way. Think about it, believer, why did Jesus come to earth? He did not come here for Himself, but for us. He came to free us from our sin and shame. We were blindly struggling with the guilt of our sin. Here’s what the angel told Joseph was the reason for the Lord’s coming through the virgin.
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
So that man could be different, Jesus came to “save His people from their sins.” A significant change is implied because of Jesus’ coming. Believer, if you are not different since your “salvation” something is wrong. While we will not be sinless or perfect this side of heaven, we are certainly changed from what we used to be!
Tomorrow we will look at the things Paul told Timothy the man of God needs to pursue.
[1] Strong, Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, the electronic version in eSword.