The Pursuit of God
That’s my blog title as well as my greatest desire — to be in pursuit of God. That means I purpose to follow, run after, chase Him, and even catch Him and His unchanging, loving, caring and peace-filled ways.
A. W. Tozer’s “The Pursuit of God” is a classic Christian devotional book written in 1948. It is all about the believer’s relationship with God. He encourages readers to seek God with a whole heart, to trust in His goodness and love, and to allow the Holy Spirit to transform their hearts and minds. And that’s what I desire to do!
PURSUIT, two scriptures from Psalm 23 jumped out at me. David, the shepherd boy, before becoming King David, wrote Psalm 23 and in verse 2-3 he said “He (God) makes me lie down in green pastures to RESTORE my soul (my will, my mind and my emotions).”
Before PURSUING that promotion or that larger home or handsome guy or beautiful girl or the next high-tech device, may it all be second to the pursuit of God — knowing Him first!
And in knowing God we will know that He desires us to PURSUE wisdom, understanding, and wholeness in spirit, soul and body. In Psalm 23:6, David makes a declaration of faith: “Surely Your goodness and mercy will PURSUE me (follow me) all the days of my life and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”
Pursuing and restoring (to restore my soul) seem to go hand and hand. David knew about PURSUING. He PURSUED the lion and the bear and was successful, because he had been in the quiet green pastures with His Shepherd.
He could take on the distractions with fervor and defeat them. Remember the analogy Jesus gave about a shepherd who leaves his flock of ninety-nine sheep in order to PURSUE the one that is lost? That Shepherd is Jesus PURSUING you and me.
What if we PURSUED our Good Shepherd daily? If we did, the distractions and the opposing forces that come to defeat us, would be silenced, and rendered “null and void”. We would then sing with David “The Lord is MY Shepherd. There is NOTHING that I want.”
How can I be effective in the PURSUIT of happiness, joy, peace, freedom from fear and anxiety, lest I be in a place of strength and relentless, fearless and audacious in faith, and wholeness in spirit and mind that can only come from knowing the Good Shepherd.
When my youngest grandson would go out to the stables to feed his animals, I noticed how those animals PURSUED him. His were the hands that fed them. They trusted him for their daily sustenance. They depended on him for their water, their protection from the predators out there and they welcomed him with their praises (hee haws by the donkeys, mooing by the longhorn, bleating by the goats, and cozying up to him by the dog and cat).
Sound familiar? It does if we know what it is to PURSUE God with all our hearts, trusting in His loving care, and praising Him for breath and life. My goal today and every day is to pursue and love my Lord with all my heart, soul, mind! You, too?
“I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know Me.” John 10:14