The Pursuit of God

The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer
from chapter 1: Following hard after God

My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
Ps. 63:8

"Christian theology teaches the doctrine of prevenient grace, which briefly stated means this, that before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man. Before a sinful man can think a right thought of God, there must have been a work of enlightenment done within him; imperfect it may be, but a true work nonetheless, and the secret cause of all desiring and seeking and praying which may follow.

We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. `No man can come to me,' said our Lord, `except by the Father which hath sent me to draw him,' and it is by this very prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for the act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: `Thy right hand upholdeth me.' In this divine `upholding' and human `following' there is no contradiction. All is of God, for as von Hugel teaches, God is always previous.

In practice, however, (that is, where God's previous working meets man's present response) man must pursue God. ... In the warm language of personal feeling this is stated in the Forty-second Psalm: `As the deer panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?' This is deep calling unto deep, and the longing heart will understand it.

…

You and I are in little (our sins excepted) what God is in large. Being made in His image we have within us the capacity to know Him. In our sins we lack only the power. The moment the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition. That is the heavenly birth without which we cannot see the Kingdom of God. It is, however, not an end but an inception, for now begins the glorious pursuit, the heart's happy exploration of the infinite riches of the Godhead. That is where we begin, I say, but where we stop no man has yet discovered, for there is in the awful and mysterious depths of the Triune God neither limit nor end.

Shoreless Ocean, who can sound Thee?
Thine own eternity is round Thee,
Majesty divine!

To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too-easily- satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart. St. Bernard stated this holy paradox in a musical quatrain that will be instantly understood by every worshipping soul:

We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread,
And long to feast upon Thee still:
We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead
And thirst our souls from Thee to fill.

come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking. …

David's life was a torrent of spiritual desire, and his psalms ring with the cry of the seeker and the glad shout oft he finder. Paul confessed the mainspring of his life to be his burning desire after Christ. `That I may know Him,' was the goal of his heart, and to this he sacrificed everything. `Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may win Christ' (Phil 3:8).

…

In the midst of this great chill there are some, I rejoice to acknowledge, who will not be content with shallow logic. They will admit the force of the argument, and then turn away with tears to hunt some lonely place and pray, `O God, show me thy glory.' They want to taste, to touch with their hearts, to see with their inner eyes the wonder that is God.

I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. …

…

When religion has said its last word, there is little that we need other than God Himself. The evil habit of seeking God-and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation. In the `and' lies our great woe. If we omit the `and', we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing.

We need not fear that in seeking God only we may narrow our lives or restrict the motions of our expanding hearts. The opposite is true. We can well afford to make God our All, to concentrate, to sacrifice the many for the One.

…

The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One.
Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing,
for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever.

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, `Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.' Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Heaven

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy,
the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

- C.S. Lewis

I've run a few races, and I love running. In fact, it took me a while to realize my identity wasn't found in the actual physical exercise of running, but the running of the eternal race. The one with higher stakes.

So I speak from experience with the following illustration.

Supposing tomorrow I were to receive one of the many pamphlets that are mailed to me (ever since I ran my first race in 2000), and supposing I were to open it, expecting to see what I usually see (a date, a registration card, the details of the charity I'm running for, etc), and it were to look like this instead:





I don't know about you, but without a why and some idea of what cause I was forwarding, I wouldn't be too thrilled about participating in this race. The stakes are too high to make such a commitment without an accurate knowledge of what I would be running for.

When you registered for a life dedicated to running the Eternal Race, you made a commitment (according to scripture) to run today, every day, every moment of this life on earth... you know that, and I know that, but it is so easy to lose sight of the "why" isn't it?

William Barkley said, "There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born, and the day we discover why."

Do you know why you are running, and what you are running towards?

Philippians 3:20-21 says,

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

The quote from Lewis at the beginning of this post is one of my favorites. But I think so often we don't realize that the longing for heaven IS within us.

When sorrows or sickness or grief or pain come; when a marriage falls apart or children are abused or we read about the death of more American troops; when evil, death, and misery fill the evening news; when buildings burn and floodwaters sweep away the lives and hopes of millions; when terrorists succeed or the legal system fails to bring order to this chaotic world...

or simply when things go wrong in our own little, personal, day-to-day lives... when you miss an appointment, receive a poor grade, injure yourself and can't participate in basketball for a season; when your computer crashes for unknown and inexplicable reasons; when an unsaved co-worker abuses you verbally for your faith; when finances are tight; when your health fails; when that sin pattern you thought you had conquered rears it's ugly head yet again...

do you, Christian, see that all of these things, and many more, not only direct us back to God's sovereignty, but more significantly, they are flashing signs that say:
"This is not your home!" "You were meant for more!"

This world has been corrupted by sin. Even good things that God created, like marriage, (between one man and one woman) have been twisted and warped until they are hardly recognizable. I read something the other day that pointed out that Satan does not have the capacity or ability to create... only to manipulate and destroy. Sin is a distortion of God's good gifts to mankind. And it is everywhere.

When you are overwhelmed with the political, economical, and social entropy of the world we live in, or when you simply find yourself burdened with the cares of your own life, do you take the opportunity to realize and remember what you were made for? And thank God for the reminder? All of this life's agony blesses us with the opportunity to recognize and acknowledge that our citizenship is in heaven, and to once again thank God for the mystery of our salvation.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you,
who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation
that is ready to be revealed in the last time."
- 1 Peter 1:3-5

"There are precious hours, blessed be God, when we forget the world - times and seasons when we get quite away from it, when our weary spirit wings its way far, far, from scenes of toil and strife. There are precious moments when the angel of contemplation gives us a vision. He comes and puts his finger on the lip of the noisy world; he bids the wheels that are continually rattling in our ears be still; and we sit down, and there is a solemn silence of the mind. We find our heaven and our God; we engage ourselves in contemplating the glories of Jesus, or mounting upwards towards the bliss of heaven - in going backward to the great secrets of electing love, in considering the immutability of the blessed covenant…in remembering our own participation of that life which cometh from God, in thinking of our blood-bought union with the Lamb, of the consummation of our marriage with him in realms of light and bliss, or any such kindred topics. Then it is that we know a little about heaven. "
- CHS


Do you desire heaven? Do you take the opportunity, when burdens overwhelm you and the world looks so grim and the future so hopeless, to acknowledge the "prize" you are running towards?

It's a race worth running, because the prize is infinitely sweeter than anything offered on the way. The longing in our hearts for peace, joy, happiness, and security... all that is unfulfilled in our hearts will be fully satisfied on the day we see our Savior face to face and enjoy His presence and fellowship forever.

Don't lose sight of the finish line!

The enjoyment of [God] is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun.
These are but streams. But God is the ocean.
- Jonathan Edwards

While we wait for heaven, all our soul's efforts and strength to run must be bound up fully and only in Christ and the satisfaction that comes from him!

The amazing goodness of God will never cease to satisfy you and give you strength to finish the race marked out for you by your loving Father before the beginning of time.

What peace and joy must flow from that knowledge! Heaven IS our home, and while we "wait" (not passively... this is a race!) we may find full satisfaction in Jesus Christ!

Heaven by Paul Wright (www.myspace.com/paulwright)

Right around the corner
I want to know what it's like to be in heaven
Looking back on my life having answers to my questions
Cuz we don't belong here forever
No no we don't belong here
And we'll be dancing, singing, bringing our praise
By lifting our voices to Jesus
There'll be no more crying, lying or dying when you and I are in heaven
I want to know what it's like to live forever
Embraced by the light of knowing you better Lord
Cuz we don't belong here forever no no we don't belong here
We we we gonna be dancing, singing,
Lifting our voices to Jesus
Take me home
I want to go home
I want to be in heaven just singing and dancing and praising and living forever...

Why Running?

Hebrews 12:1

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

- - - - - - - - - -

What if, one morning, you awoke to find yourself standing at the starting line for a race. You find someone has dressed you in runner's gear and outfitted you with the appropriate equipment for a long distance run. You glance quickly over your shoulder at a full water pack and supply of GU energy gel, but before you have time to really ponder the situation, you hear the starting gun and your mind surges adrenaline through your frame, kicking your legs into a slow jog.

Somewhat disoriented, you attempt to process your surroundings. You notice various other runners going in the same direction. A few start out fast, some slow. Some jog alone, and others pace together in groups. Your gaze turns to the road ahead of you; it stretches far beyond your view and dissapears into the horizon line, swallowed up in the distant landscape.

You suddenly realize that this is no 10k. It's a marathon. "What on earth posessed me to sign up for this?" you muse, reaching for your hydro-pack. A deep, cool sip of water throws you into a brisk trot.

The road continues on, as do you. At first, your eyes are fixed on the minute point ahead where road meets horizon, but as you press on, you begin to look around, drawing your gaze from the road and taking in the scenery; the pleasant sights and sounds that eminate from just beyond the road's edge. You don't even notice that your pace has slowed until a friendly voice draws your gaze back to the road and your ears back to the rythmic sound of your tread on the pavement. Grateful for the reminder, you pick up speed. Yet as you do, you become aware of your need for nourishment.

Reaching for your pack, another voice cuts through, penetrating your concentration, offering refreshment if you turn aside for a moment. Your feet begin to stray off the road, and you stumble on uneven ground. Yet before you find yourself completely removed from the road, a strong hand clenches your own and pulls you back to your feet and onto the path. Although glad to be back on familiar ground, your hunger gnaws at your stomach, and your pace drags. Other runners are passing you, intent upon the road ahead. Several come alongside you, and as you strike up conversation, your weariness prompts you to unburden your heart and mind.


"Why am I running this race? Did I really sign up for this? It seems so much more difficult than I expected. The farther I run, the thirstier I become. So many runners are outpacing me. The road is so long. How will I ever finish this? The hills are so high, and my legs are so tired! I'm weary, hungry, thirsty, discouraged. I've never run this race before, and I don't even know much about running. I didn't train for this, and learning as I go is tough. Sometimes, it doesn't seem fair. How can I be expected to run a race without proper conditioning, on an unfamiliar course? I don't know when to expect the hills or valleys. I don't feel ready for this. I'm ill-equipped, untrained. An ameteur runner trying to race a marathon. I frequently forget I've got this pack on my back, and so often want to turn aside for refreshment. I know I've got to keep running, but sometimes I just don't want to, or I lose sight of why I'm running, or I'm weary, or I feel alone. Sometimes, I know I've got to keep running, but I'm just not sure how.
Sometimes, I know I've got to keep running, but I just don't think I can."

- - - - - - - - - -

One of my spiritual heroes, Charles H. Spurgeon quoted the following in a sermon on Galatians 5:7.

“The Christian race is by no means easy. We are sore let and hindered in running "the race that is set before us," because of (1) Our sinful nature still remaining in the holiest saints. (2) Some easily besetting sin (Heb. 12:1). (3) The entanglements of the world, like heavy and close-fitting garments, impeding the racer's speed. (4) Our weakness and infirmity, soon tired and exhausted when the race is long or the road is rough.
— "In Prospect of Sunday," by G. S. Bowes

It's so easy to become discouraged, isn't it?
John MacArthur used the following article to expound on the analogy of the Christian life as a race...


- - - - - - - - - -

“When I was in college, I was a member of our school's track and field team. I performed best in the sprints, and occasionally the quarter mile. One of my favorite races was the mile relay. Of all the races we ran, the one I remember best is one we didn’t win.

The race started wonderfully—our first runner ran such a great opening quarter-mile leg that as he passed the baton to me, we were tied for the lead. I ran as hard as I could, and as I passed the baton to our third runner, we were in first place. I thought we had an excellent chance to win—our fourth runner was especially fast.

Our third runner took off like lightening around the first curve and down the back stretch. And then the unthinkable happened. He stopped suddenly, walked off the track, and sat down on the grass. I ran over to him, thinking he must have pulled a muscle. When I reached him, he didn't look like he was in pain, so I asked what was wrong. I'll never forget his reply. All he said was, "I don't know—I just didn't feel like running today."


Sadly, many people are like that runner. Somewhere along the way they stopped pursuing a deep, loving relationship with Christ, walked off His path of righteousness, and sat down to rest in their own self-righteousness and the ease of worldly pleasures. But allegiance and love to Christ demand a lifelong commitment. As our Lord Himself said, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).


The apostle Paul understood that priority. His relationship to Christ was the passion of his life: "that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from among the dead" (Phil. 3:10-11). But he was under no illusion that he had achieved anything, and he compared his own pursuit of Christ to that of a runner in a race (vv. 12-16). Your spiritual race must have that same sense of dissatisfaction—without it there's no reason to even run. In fact, there are several principles you need to apply as you pursue Him.


Maximum Effort
Considering who Christ is and what He has done for you, your effort should not be less than Paul's: "I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus" (v. 12). The Greek word translated "press on" was used of a sprinter who ran aggressively. That was the kind of effort Paul exerted—he ran toward Christ with all his might, straining every spiritual muscle to win the prize (cf. 1 Cor. 9:24-27). That ought to be your mindset. There's only one race you ought to be running—and it takes maximum effort using the means of grace God has provided.


No one is going to put forth that kind of effort, however, unless there is some reward at the end. For Paul, and us as well, it is "that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:12). Paul's prize, and ours, is the very purpose God had in saving us: "Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom. 8:29). God saved us so that we might become like Christ, and as a result, that should be our lifelong pursuit.


Focused Concentration
If an athlete competing in a race stands any possibility of winning, he must focus on the finish and ignore the distractions along the track, the other competitors, and even the crowd. Likewise, you must concentrate on attaining the goal of Christlikeness and not get distracted by worldly attractions and temptations. Paul was well aware of those dangers. That's why he said, "I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead" (Phil. 3:13).


How do you avoid the distractions of the world? By developing these two attitudes:
First, forget your past. As a runner approaches the starting line, his past performances have no bearing on the race he is preparing to run. The same thing is true when we run the spiritual race in pursuit of Christ—the past is completely irrelevant. Your successes and failures in the past are insignificant to the present, let alone the future. You can't evaluate your usefulness by your former virtuous deeds and achievements in ministry; neither should you be debilitated by past sins and failures.


Second, reach for the goal. Instead of looking back, a good runner is always "reaching forward to what lies ahead" (Phil. 3:13). The Greek word for "reaching forward" refers to an intense stretching to the limit of one's capacity. To run like that, you must forget the past and concentrate only on the goal ahead. Do you have that kind of concentration in your desire to become like Christ? To effectively pursue Christ, you must focus all your concentration on becoming like Him.


Spiritual Motivation
Paul was highly motivated in his pursuit of Christ: "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (v. 14). He was motivated by spiritual matters; he was not caught up in material comforts and worldly pursuits. His goal was to be like Christ, and he would receive his reward when God's upward call came. Christlikeness is both the goal and the prize we pursue.

Remember, this pursuit is objective, not subjective. It is not a mystical experience, but an exposure to the truth about Christ revealed in the Bible. Scripture is the mirror that reflects His glory. And when you gaze at it intently, you become like Him (2 Cor. 3:18).


Divine Assistance
Every believer ought to have the attitude that he or she is not perfect (Phil. 3:15). Those who have that perspective regarding their spirituality will be ready to respond positively to God's correction. But if you have the wrong attitude about your spirituality, if you're content with the current level of your spiritual growth, then God will reveal your true condition. He might do so through chastening (Heb. 12:5-11) or through trials (James 1:2, 4) to build and strengthen your faith and trust in Him.


Consistent Effort
No one can win a race with intermittent effort. Christlikeness cannot be reached with that kind of effort either—it is an ongoing pursuit. So Paul says, "Let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained" (Phil. 3:16). The Greek verb translated "keep living" refers to walking in line. Just as a runner must stay in his lane and keep up the same effort until he reaches the finish, you must stay in line spiritually and keep moving forward toward the goal of Christlikeness.


One summer while visiting Europe, I came across a famous gravestone at the foot of one of those majestic mountains in the Alps. Underneath the individual's name the epitaph reads, "He died climbing." That ought to be your attitude as you pursue Christ. When it's time for the Lord to call you home, you ought to be pursuing Him."

- - - - - - - - - -

Oh, friend. I want to die climbing. Do you? I want to "go to heaven tired."

I am beginning this "Runner's Log" in the hope that it will provide encouragement, refreshment, and faithful reminders of the freely available grace of God, to you.

"Grace abounding, strong and true,
it makes me long to be like you,
it turns me from my selfish pride,
to love the cross on which you died .

Grace unending all my days,
will give me strength to run this race,
and when my years on earth are through
the praise will all belong to you."