But you, man of God, flee from all this, andpursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
Summary: Paul’s emphasis on pursuit evokes images of running after something. In this case, we are running after an attitude of trust.
How are we supposed to “pursue faith?” Is it running away from us? Interestingly, when we look for faith in our own lives, it can seem to be elusive.
What is faith?
Simply put, faith is another word for trust and confidence in someone or something. Hebrews famously defines faith this way:
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
You can have faith in things you see, touch, and feel, but it is not as challenging as faith in things we do not see.
As a Christian, we put our faith in … what? God? Jesus? The Bible? (Oh, wait. We can “see” the Bible!)
Those who believe in Jesus believe in someone who has gone to prepare a place for us (John 14:2). He is not here in the flesh, but he does promise to come back for us (John 14:3).
And that is what we have faith in. We are trusting that Jesus won’t leave us behind; that he will come and get us at the proper time.
So how do we pursue faith? How do we chase after having trust in Jesus?
The answer is probably different for each of us. After all, we are all in different places in our relationship with Jesus. However, there are some common threads we can all make use of.
One is to keep our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2). The writer of Hebrews compares faith to running a race. If you have ever run a physical long-distance race, you know the challenge of believing you can finish.
Another thread is to keep our minds focused on where Jesus is. This is the place we pray about when we pray the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13): “… your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven….”
A third thread is to remain in Jesus:
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you… apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
It requires effort to stay in Jesus. He was using a vine and its branches as an illustration. If the branches lose their grip, they lose contact with the source of their life.
Application: Make it your goal to stay focused on Jesus all day, every day.
Food for Thought: What other ways of pursuing faith come to mind?
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I believe another way of pursuing faith is to act in faith, or step out in faith. And that is really saying “yes” to the Holy Spirits leading. There are many ways that the Holy Spirit asks us to act in faith: through revelation of God’s Word, through the convictions of our conscience, and when we become aware of others in need. Stepping out in faith is casting aside fear and trusting in the Lord. As we learn that the Lord is faithful to us, our faith increases in Him. To me, that is pursuing faith.
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
James 2:17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
1 John 3:18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.