Pursuing the One Who Pursues Me


The waves of God's love are like the relentless waves of the ocean. 



Scripture:

Phil. 3:12   Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 

Observation:

Paul has been using a metaphor from running to speak of his spiritual life. His goal is to reach perfection, or completion in Christ. He recognizes that this is a life-long journey, one in which he is eternally drawn into participation with the Triune God. Since God is eternal, we continue to stretch out with the Lord throughout all of eternity. Therefore, we pursue the goal, and the goal is to know Christ entirely. Sometimes, however, we miss the final statement, and that is not just about Paul’s pursuit of Christ, but Christ’s pursuit of Paul. This is not about human effort alone, but about prevenient grace and the relentless pursuit of God toward humankind. Christ makes us his own, therefore we make him our own. The entire motivation stems from the initiating activity of our holy and loving God. 

Application:

This is a scripture passage that I have heard often, and most of the time it’s used in reference to “pressing on.” Somehow I simply missed the last part of the sentence, “because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” That’s actually the foundational piece to this entire verse. Paul understands that it was Jesus Christ relentlessly pursuing him, that brought about his own transformation. Only because of that pursuit does Paul now understand the need for him to pursue Christ in return. 

In my tradition we speak of “prevenient grace,” that grace that goes before and reaches out to all of humanity. God is in the process of relentlessly pursuing each and every one of us, even if we may think that we have tuned God out of our lives. When we recognize that God loves us and delights in us, it becomes a joy to participate in the very heart of the Lord. There we discover this love that never stops pursuing us. This is not a “gotcha” kind of a pursuit, but this is a genuine love that desires to restore his children kind of love. 

Once we begin to understand the depth of this love then we can start to have a feel for Paul’s intention. He is consumed with desire to become everything that he can be in Christ, because he grasps the depth, width and height of Jesus’ love for him. Overwhelmed by love, he chooses to participate in that love in every way possible. What that means for me is that when I open my eyes to the wave of God’s love which is directed toward me, I choose to be enveloped by that love. I don’t fully understand it, but I know that I will continue to press on because the more that I experience the love of God, the deeper I want to go. 

There is nothing static about this relationship with God, not from God’s side, nor from mine. No matter what is happening in my life, God will relentlessly reach out to love me, and I will always have the freedom to respond. There is no standing in one place in this relationship, but for me, it also becomes the relentless pursuit of knowing God; of seeking the face of the Lord. I have the privilege of pursuing the one who has and will always pursue me. 

Prayer:

Lord, help me step closer to you today, and every day. Amen. 

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