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1st May: Run to Obtain

Train yourself in godliness, for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:7-8

As Timothy was continuing his job as pastor and teacher at Ephesus, Paul might have wished and prayed for him for much in the way of gifts and endowments to do the work. But this is not his theme. Again and again in his letters to Timothy he urges him to aim at godliness. In the context of 1 Timothy 4:8 and 2 Timothy 4:7-8 Paul likens the pursuit of godliness to physical training as a prolonged struggle -- 'the good fight of faith'. Godliness is not something that magically supervenes after an appropriate length of time as a Christian; it is something that has to be strained after and fought for.

We are all familiar with the sight of thousands of people, clad in singlets and shorts, pounding the street of our major cities in the 'people's marathons'. These individuals have often given up hours every week to train their muscles to accept the load that, legend has it, killed the sole runner of the first marathon. How much more should we be prepared to train ourselves in godliness, day in day out, at the cost of a struggle.

But training has a negative as well as a positive aspect. Timothy is instructed on the one hand to have nothing to do with -- to refuse (AV) -- godless and silly myths (v7), and on the other hand to train himself in godliness. In 1 Timothy 6:11 he is told to shun -- flee from (AV) -- the foolish and hurtful things as well as to aim at -- follow after (AV) -- godliness.

The spirit of the age in which we live, with its false beliefs, dependence on human wisdom, inverted values and superstitions, can be seen in agnosticism, humanism, the worship of money and possessions, and preoccupation with astrology and the occult. These are the things we need to shun as we pursue the righteousness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness which are godliness (1 Tim 6:11), so that we attain God's promise not only for the present life but also for the life to come.

Heavenly Father, help me daily to lay aside
those sins which cling so closely, and, looking to you,
to persevere in pursuit of your high calling.
May I so run as to attain the promise of the life to come.

Further reading: 2 Pet 1:1-11. 1 Cor 9:24-25.

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