Today's encouragement comes from 1 Timothy, chapter 6. There, in vv. 11 & 12a, we read this:
"But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godli-ness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life . . . "The everyday Christian life is all about fleeing, pursuing, and fighting. Only on Sundays are we saints given our provisional Sabbath rests, in anticipation of heaven. Christ-loving churchmen flee greed and discontentedness; pursue the virtues listed above; and fight for the prize, taking spiritual land for Jesus—inch-by-fought-for-inch. Unfaithful people also flee, pursue, and fight; but they are fleeing God's rest, pursuing their own sinful ends, and fighting against God's gospel and provision.
By grace, let us always be enlisted in Jesus' army of His church. Christ is a wonderful commander. He will not let us down.
[Puritan quote of the day: "A man may go to hell as well for heresy as adul-tery. To be unsettled in religion, evidences a lack of judgment.” —Thomas Watson, in, "A Body of Divinity"]
