Take Hold
Key Text: First Timothy 6:11-12
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.
I love the Apostle Paul’s letter to a young minister named Timothy – probably because I am a “Timothy” myself – once called into ministry by the church in which I had been raised.
I am also a fan of these powerful letters because they get right to the core of what living the Christian life is all about, not just for “professional clergy” but for all followers of Christ:
- Avoiding temptation
- Seeking deeper things than mere materialism
- Pursuing righteousness – not “self-righteousness” but true righteousness
- Learning what godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness are all about
It’s a great invitation to a life that is deep and full of meaning, not to mention one that will stretch into eternity.
But it doesn’t come easily – it is, quite literally, a “battle.”
That is why we have to “fight the good fight of the faith.”
Dark spiritual realities will try, time and again, to draw us away from the life God intends for us.
The good news is they can’t win.
We have the ability to “take hold” of the eternal life to which we have been called – and nothing can pull us away from it – not if we don’t let it.
So – men and women of God – grab on and hold on – life in the kingdom of God is yours!
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By Paul Simrell
The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
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