A Time to Flee - June 26 Readings: 1 Timothy 6:3-21

Today’s Readings

Context

Paul ends this instruction to Timothy by warning him about one of the great temptations of any minister - money.

A professor in seminary told us once, "There are a lot of things that will hurt your ministry, men. There are two things that will destroy it. Money and women. Don't mess around with either."

Good advice. I think Paul would agree. He tells Timothy to flee from both sexual immorality and from the love of money. 

Devotional - A Time to Flee

Only cowards run away from fights, right? Strong men and women face their troubles and defeat them (in the power of God, of course). They don't back down, they stand and fight.

But strangely, there are times when the inspired Word commands us not to stand and fight, but to flee. Some battles are so intense that wisdom tells us that we should not try to face these foes, but run away. In other scriptures, we are told to run from sexual immorality. The temptation toward sexual immorality is so strong and the consequences so devastating that we should run away from anything that brings temptation.

Here, in 1 Timothy 6, we are told that there is something else we need to flee from. Verse 11 instructs Timothy, the "man of God," to "flee from these things." What was it that Paul had been discussing? What was it that Timothy was to flee from? Verses 9-10 make that clear.

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Greed. Materialism. The love of money. The desire to be rich. This temptation to live for financial gain instead of the purposes of God. It is a besetting sin in American culture and has even been baptized by those who preach, contrary to the weight of God's Word, that God desires for all the redeemed to be immensely wealthy.

But greed and materialism are not to be trifled with or treated as godly desires. We must run from them, flee! Materialism is a soul-killing, foolish desire that plunges our lives into ruin and destruction. The love of money is a root from which grows all kinds of evil. When we follow the desire to be rich, we wander away from a simple faith in God and pierce ourselves with pains and troubles.

We must run from this, right into the arms of God. We must reject completely the love of money and instead give ourselves over completely to the love of God.

Father, I belong to you, bought by your Son' blood. May I never live for any reward but your pleasure and may I never invest my life in anything but your kingdom. 

Think and Pray

Have you fallen prey to the love of money?
Have the desires for the things of this world grabbed hold of your soul?
Spend time before the Lord considering your heart and whether the love of money has any hold on it.