God Pursues Us

God wants us to worship Him. He doesn't need us, for He couldn't be a self-sufficient God and need anything or anybody, but He wants us. When Adam sinned it was not He who cried, "God, where art Thou?" It was God who cried, "Adam, where art thou?" A.W. Tozer

God pursues us daily.  If He were not a loving God he would not give us the opportunity to return to Him.  He is the God of second chances.  He waits daily for us to turn back to Him and put Him in first place.

But what happens?  Instead of putting God first we make Him last.  We pursue worldly things at the expense of the Father.  This past week was Thanksgiving.  Have you noticed how the world has intruded on Thanksgiving?  Retailers decided to open on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) instead of the Friday after.  So at 6:00pm or 8:00pm after everyone was stuffed like a turkey, they could run out and fight the crowds for bargains. 

So there were fights in the stores.  There were people actually fighting over getting an inanimate object on sale. We have become a society that pursues things.  I admit in the past I shopped on the day after Thanksgiving.  I haven’t done that in quite a few years.  There is nothing on any store shelf that I want that badly anymore. 

Here is my question. Do you think anyone would stay up all night shopping, or get up at 5:00am to fight for a parking space, if what was on the store shelves was salvation? I don’t think people would darken the door of the store that offered salvation? 

When we begin to understand that the most important thing we can ever obtain is salvation, that is when we begin to understand Who God really is.  He pursues us over and over again, but what we need to remember is that He will not pursue us forever.  One day God will determine that He has had enough, and this world as we know it will come to an end.  Will we be ready?   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, in the past I pursued things.  There are still times when I get caught up in the shopping frenzy.  Please direct my thoughts to You when I am tempted to pursue the things of this world.  Keep my mind attuned to You when the things of this world come calling.  There is nothing I need more than You.  I praise You for salvation and the opportunity to spend eternity with You.       

Scripture:  “So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever.

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.” Chronicles 28:8-10