Running Has a Direction

Paul tells Timothy to flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. We usually hear the first half and stop there. Flee. Get away from it, close the laptop, leave the room. That instinct is right, and there are moments when the only faithful thing to do is put physical distance between yourself and the thing pulling at you. But notice that Paul does not leave Timothy running in the dark with no destination. Fleeing and pursuing are the same motion described from two ends. You run from one thing by running toward another. A man who only tries to escape lust, with nothing better in view, is exhausting himself, and eventually he slows down and the old thing catches him. Paul points to what to chase, and what he names is less a checklist than a whole way of living, marked by faith and love and peace and shared with other men who want the same clean hearted freedom. When you feel the pull tonight, do not just brace against it. Move toward something. Call the brother, open the Word, step into the company of people who want the same freedom you want. Give your running somewhere to go.