the pursuit

At a Jonah Ministries winter camp, my thinking was challenged in a great way.

I'd heard the familiar verse before:

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace,

Along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

2 Timothy 2:22

But I had never considered the coherence of the two admonitions: flee and pursue. What Paul is saying is one and the same.

By fleeing one thing, you are inherently pursuing another. When I was a child, I would often flee the "big tickle monster" and run to my mom, who would save me. In this one action I was fleeing the thing I feared, and pursuing (running toward) safety and comfort.

In this life, nothing is different. When you are called to flee youthful passions/sin, you are called to pursue righteousness/Christ and vice versa. Stop trying so hard to flee sin. Pursue Christ.

this is. the pursuit.