The Pursuit

The Pursuit of God-What does it mean to Pursue?


Not just seeking God but pursuing Him like a cop pursues a "suspect".  A cop is not just seeking--but is active with his pursuit.  He will not stop until he is successful in his "capture".  Shouldn't we all be in an active pursuit of God?


Like a treasure hunter we should be so wrapped up in pursuing God that it consumes us.  At least that is what I want.  In seeking Him I can learn His truth--His way (Bible knowledge) but by pursuing Him, HE becomes my love--my main focus.  His word transforms me from the inside out.  Where some may call me radical about God or even addicted to God--I'd rather be addicted to God in whom I have eternal life than addicted to things of this world which are superficial and only leave me searching.


This pursuit of God fills the void in my heart that longs for unconditional love.  A void that I once thought only my earthly parents could fill.  Now I know that void was the love--the longing--I have for my Heavenly Father--my Abba and more importantly the love He has for me.


The love He has for us is what drives our pursuit.  A.W. Tozer refers to this as prevenient grace--in order for us to pursue Him, He must of pursued us first.  Our Heavenly Father must love each one of us so greatly it goes beyond what we can comprehend or even put into words in a way that can describe His never-ending and unconditional love for us.


Are you seeking God or are you pursuing Him??  I was motivated to ask myself this question because I am in the middle of a book called The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer.


One of the study questions is "What does being a Christian mean"?  What classifies you as being a "Christian"?  After much thought and prayer being a Christian is much more than just proclaiming your belief in God.  To me it consists of three things:


1.)  By having a heart that seeks God with all I am.
2.)  Surrendering to HIS will.  As Proverbs 16:9 states, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps."
3.)  Allowing God to mold me.  

It is more than a prayer of salvation that we call ourselves Christians.  It is an action of the heart to decide to turn away from the "old self" and live in the new creation God has for us.  As Ephesians 4 starting in verse 17 is titled: Instructions for Christian Living and in some version it is called "Children of the Light".  When we apply these principles to live as children of the light we are no longer living with bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, and malice but instead strive to be kind, compassionate, loving, and forgiving.

So again are we just "seeking" God like we seek to enjoy great food?  Dictionary.com defines seek as:

• to go in search or quest of: to seek the truth.
• to try to find or discover by searching or questioning.
• to try to obtain.
• to try or attempt 

Or are we pursuing God like a detective who searches for a suspect?  The definition of pursuing is:

• an effort to secure or attain; quest.
• any occupation, pastime, or the like, in which a person is engaged regularly.

And that brings me to another question.  Why do we pursue things, God?

We seek to satisfy an emptiness in our soul.  An emptiness The Psalms says that was put there on purpose by God.  An emptiness so deep nothing can satisfy it except God himself.  Of course it is not just His love we seek but His guidance, and His Forgiveness.