Learn To Get Interested in the Interests of Friends

In review of 1 Timothy 6:21 it says, “Some of these people have missed the most important thing in life — they don’t know God”

Bottom Line:

Be careful to not wander from the truth by following foolishness.

What this means to me:

It’s extremely important for me to really know God. Not knowing him or following some false truth will cause me to miss out on the most important thing in life.

Today's verse comes from the last part of 1 Timothy chapter 6 in which Paul leaves Timothy with some final instructions. In these last paragraphs Paul tells Timothy to run from evil things, pursue righteousness and a godly life coupled with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Timothy is to fight the good fight for the true faith. Holding tightly to the eternal life to which God had called him. Obey God's commands without wavering, then no one can find fault in you.

Timothy is to instruct those who are rich, not to be proud or to trust in money. Their trust should be in God. Lastly Timothy is encouraged to guard what God has entrusted to him. Timothy is to avoid godless, foolish discussion with those who oppose this, as such people have wandered from the faith by following foolishness.

So the key to a friendship with God is deciding whose friendship I want most.

I don’t have time for everybody to be my friend. I’ve got to decide who I want most to be my best friend.

The Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:21, “Some of these people have missed the most important thing in life — they don’t know God” (TLB).

They know all the baseball scores. They know the stock market quotes. They know the top 10 songs. They know who’s in and who’s out in every soap opera. But they don’t know God. They missed the most important thing in life!

Not being a friend of God means that you care about something else more. James 4:4 says, “You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world becomes God’s enemy” (NCV).

When James writes, “loving the world,” I believe he means loving the value system of the world. God wants me to love people, but that doesn’t mean I have to love the world’s value system. Unfortunately I can get so caught up in the distractions of life that I tend to do just the opposite. I love the world’s value system, but then I don’t love people. If not careful, I can adopt materialism, pleasure, popularity, prestige, passion, possessions, and position.

But one thing is for sure, God loves people, and he wants me to love them too. One way I can  show my love to others is to show an interest in their interests. In other words, what is important to them becomes important to me (always within the context of biblical truth).

To be a real friend of God, I’ve got to care about what God cares about and stop caring about the things God doesn’t care about. God doesn’t care about my image. He’s not interested in my status. He’s interested in my character, not how I look but who I am. An essential step toward friendship with God means choosing to value what God values.