Our dear brother Tom again today. Beautiful verse and message for today, thanks Tom!

Here is the text:

2 Timothy 2:22, "Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."

Interesting points:
1. Explaining how one should cleanse one’s self in the previous verse, Paul exhorts us to flee our sinful (evil) desires and pursue righteousness along with other genuine believers.

2. Timothy was most likely in his early 30s at the time of this letter and still single but “the evil desires of youth” are not merely reserved to young men. Lustful temptation and greed, and a whole host of other failures tied to inexperience and lack of self-control are as much a concern for us men today as the men in Timothy’s era. Timothy was to not only guard against temptations, sexual or otherwise, but also to flee from them. So must we.

3. Rather than obsessing on what to avoid, Paul provides Timothy (and us) a list of four internal attributes to "pursue": righteousness, faith, love, and peace. This means that we should choose to chase after these in our hearts, taking control of our wayward thoughts and turning them to focus on things of eternal significance.

4. Note that we are to pursue these attributes “with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart”; that is, with other devoted believers. We see this idea in Hebrews 10:24–25 which says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Application.
Brothers, God works within each of us individually, but He also has designed us to sharpen one another! In the restrictions imposed by governments combatting this pandemic, it is harder for us to physically gather and hold each other accountable, encourage one another, console others and lift each other up in prayer BUT technology allows us to hear the words out of the mouths of others in real time, we can see one another’s faces and we can even send written words around the world in seconds!!!
So, why don’t we? The Day of the Lord is approaching and many are flailing in their fight against pornography, fearful of the unknown, and giving in to the evil desires of youth, and yet we find that the community of believers is active – in person and online. What are we “distracted” with that prevents us from fleeing the desires of youth and pursuing righteousness, faith, love and peace with our beloved brothers in Christ? Hold our distractions up to the Word of God and ask Him to create a new heart with you/us.
May we learn to truly implement what James 4:7 tells us, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” A lone man more easily falls prey to his enemy but there is undoubtedly safety in numbers.