The following is an excerpt from a longer post called Stop Eating the Vomit at Dick Borg's blog, Branches in the Vine. 

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But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness,

godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. - 1 Timothy 6:11

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.  -  Timothy 2:22

      “…flee temptation and pursue Christ….” Inspired by the Spirit, Paul exhorts Pastor Timothy to flee from the power and pleasure of temptation and sin to pursue the power and pleasure of Christ.

     To merely flee “from” sin is to maintain your attention on the sin that “entangles”.  This is why Christ-less counselling, Christ-less rehab and Christ-less recovery groups are flawed and fail.  They provide sympathy and empathy but no hope.  I’m not trashing all counseling, rehab and recovery groups, only those that are not Biblically based and Christ-centered.

Where do we start?

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us

our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  - I John 1:9

     Are you weary of confessing the sin that easily entangles you and returning to eat the vomit again?

      “…confession to God of your sins always results in Divine forgiveness”.  Confession is agreement with God and is the best first step.  By confession we abandon any denial and any justification of sin such as blaming others, our past, etc.  But if after confession we merely flee, the power and pleasure of temptation and sin remain our attention.

i.e.  If you can’t remember being chased as a kid, watch kids chasing one another.  Most all kids being chased are instinctively looking behind rather than ahead.  Why is that?  They have nothing to pursue to—they are simply fleeing. Confession without pursuit of Christ is like putting lipstick on a pig.  The pig doesn’t go away!   But when we pursue Christ and the power and pleasure of his fellowship, we grow to become like him and the temptation and sin that entangles will lose its strength.  This is Divine deliverance.  It could be instantaneous!  But most often takes time.  The renewal of your body, mind, emotions and will is often a process of daily fellowship and intimacy with Christ.  A glance at Jesus on Sunday morning is not enough to transform your character.  Keep your eyes fixed on him.

ie:  If you only spent one hour a week with the person you say you love the most (parents, spouse, children, or the one you are engaged to marry), what would that relationship eventually look like and how long would it last?

i.e.  If you were diagnosed with a treatable cancer but never pursued surgery and chemo, how long would you last?

• Flee the sin that entangles and pursue Christ.
• Hang out with people who are pursuing Christ.
• Seek their counsel and wisdom.
• Choose to be accountable to them.

But in between, deepen your fellowship with Christ every day—fix your eyes on him and never look back.  I confess I don’t pursue Christ perfectly myself.  But what I know for sure is that when I pursue Christ by and with his Spirit, my temptations are weak.

     I routinely ask a question about many things like this one.  How did the early Christ-followers in the pre-Christian culture of the first century survive and thrive morally and spiritually without trained counselors, recovery groups or rehab?  They fled temptation and the sin that easily entangles and pursued Christ, kept their eyes on him and were transformed in their mind by the Spirit of Christ, living in him , being led by him and keeping in step with him.