On Guard
(1
Timothy 6:6-21)
In his letters to Timothy, the apostle Paul, an
aging missionary, felt that he needed to give Timothy a little advice. In these letters, Paul offers advice on a lot
of subjects that deal with church business as well as personal growth.
We often get advice from people we know and
love. They offer it usually because they’ve
been there, they’ve done that. They know
the perils that might happen if we go our own way. They know the joy that could be experienced
if we’d just pay attention. Sometimes we
listen to that advice and are rewarded for not making some of the same mistakes
they did, sometimes we don’t – often to our own detriment.
Well, in today’s verses, Paul addresses the
subject of contentment, where it is found and where it is not found. How to be on guard against the things that do
not benefit us and how to be in pursuit of things that bring joy and fulfillment.
In the midst of a society that was
driven by wealth and greed, Paul's advice to Timothy was to learn the lesson of
true contentment. He begins with a
reminder that we do not bring anything into the world, and we will not take
anything from it. So, in whatever
circumstances we find ourselves, be joyful.
If we have the necessities of life, like food and water, clothing and
shelter, we ought to rejoice.
But his advice turns to a warning in verses 9
and 10. He warns that those who are in
the pursuit of “stuff” will fail to find contentment in the simple pleasures of
life. They will be trapped by senseless
and harmful desires. Consider for a
moment how much time and energy is spent on things that don't last. How truly senseless a number of our pursuits
become when we view them in the context of God's universe and God's time. One of our greatest sins has to be the sin of
wasting time. We focus on the
unimportant, we major on the minors. We toil
and labor and sweat and strain over things that have no eternal value.
Paul's warning is to be on guard against those
things that do not provide contentment in life. We might think that the pursuit of money and “stuff”
for us to have and enjoy might bring about that contentment, but the opposite
is true. Paul writes in verse 10, "The
love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be
rich, some have wandered away from the faith". We often talk of going from rags to riches,
but to those who make money their God, just the opposite is true. They exchange the riches of glory for mere
earthbound rags.
To young Timothy, Paul writes, "You, man
of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance,
gentleness" (v. 11). Pursue the
things that last. How do we do it? How can we discover contentment, and keep our
wealth in perspective? Because I’m not
saying that money and riches, in and of themselves are bad. But we need to be on guard against making
them something that they were never intended to be and to put them into proper
perspective.
First, be more concerned with people than with
things.
Go back and read the Gospels: Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John. While you do that underline
every single verse that describes Jesus' love for things. Every time his wealth is mentioned, highlight
it. Each time his love for fine clothing
is discussed, circle it. Actually, you
don't really need to that, because there is nothing to underline, highlight or
circle. Instead, Jesus invested his life
in the lives of others. You won't read
about Jesus' bank account, or his home, or his clothing. You will instead read all about people whose
lives became intertwined with his; people like Bartimaeus, or Zacchaeus, or Mary,
or Martha, or Lazarus, or Peter, or John, or countless others who didn’t even
have names but we know their stories because we’re told about how Jesus came, became
part of their story and changed their lives. Like the man sitting by the pool waiting to be
healed, or the ten lepers that were sent away clean, or the hemorrhaging woman
who touched his garment, or the man born blind who could now see, or the man
with evil spirits inside him, or the centurion whose daughter was ill. Jesus was concerned first and foremost with
people.
Where do you invest your life? Examine the created order of life; the waning
of day into night, the turning of the seasons, the ebb and flow of water, all plants,
animals, fish, birds. God placed them
all carefully on our planet and chose humanity to have dominion over all of it.
If God placed people above all things,
and if Christ valued people more than life itself, doesn't it make sense that
people should be important to us too?
Second, focus on the eternal and be on guard
against the pursuit of the temporal things of life. Sometimes we fail to see the big picture. We forget that there is more to life than just
today’s existence. Whenever we fail to
consider the eternal, the matters of the heart and the well-being of our souls,
our priorities get out of balance. We
focus on this temporary life and forget that we need to spend time preparing
for all of eternity.
Every day we spend some time in front of the
mirror. We comb hair, check clothing,
brush teeth to a pearly white. We fuss
over makeup, nail color, and neckties. We spend a lot of time on these earthly
bodies. Which is fine, as they are the
temple in which our spirits reside. But
sometimes we do that at the expense of our inner spiritual bodies, which will
last forever. We should take as much
time, if not more on grooming those bodies for health. We tend to focus on the physical and the temporary
rather than the eternal.
Notice the language of Paul's warning to be on
guard. Flee from the senseless and
harmful desires that keep your focus on the mortal. Instead, pursue (run after) the eternal. Every now and then my mom calls me or texts me
because she’ll be watching some car auction show on tv. And she’ll call in amazement because a 1934 Packard
just sold for over 4 million dollars or even more ridiculous, a 1962 Ferrari
sold for 48 million dollars. People spend
millions of dollars to own a piece of Camelot. But in the end it's all just stuff—temporary,
can't-take-it-with-you stuff.
Why not make investments that last forever? Spend time with an aging adult who might be
feeling lonely or neglected. Spend time
with a child, reading them a story. Get
involved in a local mission. You don’t
have to go a world away to be a missionary.
You can do it right here at home.
There are plenty of agencies and activities that need your help. Give away a few of your things so that another
person in need might have the necessities of life and can rejoice. Be mindful of your quiet time with God. Spend time in prayer. Be attentive to the agency of your heart, mind
and spirit that you are pursuing after the right things. Be on guard against the temporal and focus
on the eternal, each day, every day.
Third, filter the voices in your life. We set priorities by listening to the right
voices in our lives. It's like tuning a radio
as you search for a clear station. There
are many voices in our world. Every one
of them wants your attention, each wants to control you, or at least a small
part of you. Some are good and positive,
others are full of static, some speak about things you don't even want to hear.
Yet, you must decide which voice will
control your life. Ask some questions
about the things you hear: Does it proclaim truth and the things of God? Does it speak well of every person? Is it fair and honest? Will I be a better person for listening, or
will what is said begin to erode my character?
A lot of the voices out there will
tell you to be selfish. To look out for
number one, to make more, have more, possess more. Be on guard against those voices. Instead, pursue the voice of God, which is
quite different. It says, feed the poor,
clothe the naked, visit the sick, serve humanity. Until we learn true contentment with the
blessings of Christ in our lives, we will keep searching and desiring more,
never quenching our thirst. Decide whose
voice will get your attention: The world's or the Savior of the world.
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