The Seeking God

 

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Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;

I fled Him down the arches of the years;

I fled Him down the labyrinthine ways of my

own mind; and in the midst  of tears

I hid from Him, and under running laughter…

From those strong feet that followed, followed after.

Those lines are from a poem called “The Hound of Heaven.” It’s about God.  Like a bloodhound on the scent of our trail, says the poet, God relentlessly pursues his wayward children.

That poem is good theology.   The Bible is not a record of man’s pursuit of God.   It is a record of God’s pursuit of us.  From it’s opening question: “Adam, where art thou?” to its final invitation, “The Spirit and the Bride say come,” the Bible records the divine pursuit of humanity.

He pursues us because he must.  As Bruce Springsteen put it, we are “Born to Run.”   And run we do.  We run from:  bad debts, bad marriages, and bad situations. Can’t pay your bills?  Declare bankruptcy. Can’t keep your vows?  Get a divorce.  Can’t do the work? Get a new job.  Can’t pass the test?  Find a new school.

“Slip out the back, Jack.  No need to be coy, Roy. Get a new plan, Stan.  Just get yourself free.” Move out, move up, and move on.  New house, new spouse, new job, new school but, of course, the same old you.   The trouble with running is that you take yourself with you.

And then there’s running from God.  Just how would you do that?  Where in the world would you go?  What would you give as your forwarding address?

The Biblical Psalmist once pondered that. Here’s what he concluded:

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up as high as heaven, you are there.

If I go as low as the grave, you are there too. Psalm 139:7 8

There is no place so secret, no horizon so distant, no territory so uncharted, no sin so private, and no rebellion so personal that God does not know about it.  You can’t successfully run from God.

Yet we still keep running: from holiness, from integrity, from responsibility, from God. And God keeps pursuing us–relentlessly, tirelessly, passionately, patiently, and lovingly. Why does God do this?  Why does he keep following after us with those “strong feet” like some kind of heavenly bloodhound?

According to Jesus God “seeks” us in order to “save” us.  He loves us deeply and wants to rescue us from our own self-destruction. Like a parent who refuses to let go of a rebellious child, God will not easily let us get away from him.

“I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew

He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me.

Twas not so much that  I on Thee  took  hold, As Thou, dear Lord, on me.”—Anonymous

Dr. Steve Hooks, Professor of Biblical Studies

“Pray today that everyone in our Point community would be open to God’s seeking us and that we would also be open to being used by God to let others know that He seeks them as well.”