“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:11-12
We often conceive of salvation as a gift of God to us, which is not wrong.
The Apostle Paul writes, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).
Yet that does not mean we have no part to play in our salvation!
Here the aged apostle commands his young disciple Timothy to “take hold” of the eternal life to which he was called and to whom God has given. The word “take hold” is better translated as “seize with intent”. It is like seeing something very precious before you and you make every effort to secure it… like a young man pursuing the girl of his dreams – he will make every effort to secure her affections!
Which is what we are doing afresh in the season of Lent.
God has called us to salvation and given us the gift of salvation through Christ. Yet he also calls us to make every effort to grab hold of this gift. We can do this by:
- Letting go of all distractions and hindrances in following Christ (“flee from all this“)
- Establish spiritual disciplines in our lives to keep close to God (“pursue righteouness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness“)
- Share with others boldly and freely about God’s grace for them (“make your good confession“)
May this season be one where we intentionally “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles… and run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb 12:1) The Holy Spirit is calling all of us to renewed action in Lent!
Have a blessed day🙏