The Pursuit of God

When Jesus walked the earth, He told a lot of stories. We call them parables, but they were stories, nonetheless. My favorite of these is the story of the lost son. Some call it the story of the Prodigal Son. Perhaps it would be better titled, The Story of the Loving Father. If you haven’t heard the story, I encourage you to read it here.

Did you know that the story of the lost son is one that is told over and over again in the Old Testament?

It is the story of Judah, Samson, Solomon, Manasseh, and in a broader sense, the people of Israel.

I touch on the stories of these first three men in The Prince and the Prodigal, Her Source of Strength, and The Heart of a King. But to give you the shortened view…

Judah left home for about twenty years after being the one to suggest selling Joseph into slavery. He returned a changed man who was willing to give his life for Benjamin. But he went through a lot of heartache to get there.

Samson, chosen by God before birth, didn’t take his role as a Nazarite seriously. Though he served as a judge in Israel, he was also a womanizer and did not fully rely on the Lord who had called him. At the end of his life, he came to his senses and recognized that God was the source of his strength, his very life.

Solomon started well in that he wanted to obey the Lord his God. Twice God appeared to him and yet, he still gave into the worship of other gods, led astray by his many wives. He squandered the gifts God had given him, but if you read Ecclesiastes, you will see that again, at the end of his life, he realized that to fear God and keep His commandments is the whole duty of mankind.

Manasseh was one of the worst kings of Judah. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord and caused Israel to do the same, but at the end of his life, he also repented. Read his story here.

What is it about coming to the end of life that causes some of us to finally face the God who has been pursuing us all of our days? Don’t you know that He never gives up in His pursuit of us? Aren’t you glad He loves us that much?

God is not thwarted by our pride or unbelief. Pride makes us think we are in control. We build our little kingdoms, and we think we are the author of our destinies. That might work for a while, but you know…when we come either to the end of ourselves and our own delusions or the end of our lives, we still have to face the fact that we are not all powerful. We are not in control. If we were either all-powerful or in control, why can’t we keep ourselves or our loved ones from dying? Only God has that power.

If only it didn’t take us so long to realize that fact.

God lovingly, mercifully pursues us every single day.

That emptiness we feel? That sense that there is more beyond our one life here? That restlessness that keeps us running on a treadmill on a moving train, trying to fulfill something we can’t define? They all point to one thing.

We were made for more.

We were made for God.

We were made to live eternally with Him.

But for us to have Him and Him to give us all that we long for will cost us our pride. It will cost us the surrender of our wills for His. And most of us have a really hard time giving those things up, even if it means great gain.

“What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?”

We are really good at wanting the world instead of the health of our souls.

Regardless of what we may think right now, God will not give up on us. What lengths He will go to depends on our response to Him.

So how do we find this God who pursues us?

By seeking Him through His Word, the Bible, and through His Son. By believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and by believing have life in His Name.

Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Instead, invite Jesus to be Lord of your life.

Call upon Him while He is near. He will never forsake those who seek Him. Seek Him with all of your heart.

May we find Him today rather than waiting until most of these men did–at the end of their lives. There is so much life wasted if we wait that long.

Don’t wait.

~Selah