Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers out there! I couldn't post today without mentioning them. I'm blessed to still have my earthly father, along with a grandpa, my father-in-law, "step" father-in-law, and my wonderful husband who is a shining example for our son. I also dearly miss my granddad who has gone away to be with our Heavenly Father. This day has been a wonderful reminder of what a special role a father plays in the lives of their children. It comes with great responsibility, and I'm so encouraged by the men in my family and the fathers they have chosen to be for their families!
Now I'm sure if you read the title of my blog tonight, you noticed this post is the first of two. I decided to split this one up because they're both so important, and I don't want any of you to grow tired (though I can't swear that won't happen regardless) and fall asleep in the middle. No, I want each of you to be able to see what the Lord has placed on my heart and be able to ask yourself if God is trying to speak to yours as well.
The Pursuit. It's the name of our Community Group class(some call it Sunday School) at church. We've been attending this class for over three years now. It's filled with wonderful, transparent people who are willing to serve anytime there's a need, to open up about the not-so-pretty parts of their lives, and would give you the shirts off their backs if asked. That last one I only assume as I've never seen that actually happen. Though, I CAN make an educated guess based on their generosity in so many other ways. This truly is such a great group of God-fearing people who want to pursue God, and we are so blessed to be a part of it.
Tonight, I'm not going to talk about how we pursue God, rather I want to talk about the pursuit that's been taking place from the very beginning...God pursuing us.
I'm sure this is a very common and simple thought for most, but maybe I just hadn't really taken the time to give it the thought it deserved. My husband and I had a long discussion with our son tonight about how we have to want to follow God, or pursue Him. And yes, I know I said I wasn't going to talk about that tonight. Bear with me. I began thinking about this and was overwhelmed when my heart remembered what made me want to pursue Him in the first place. It was His pursuit of me.
If you're at an age where you've dated, courted, married, or even started to think about a relationship with a person of the opposite sex, you've most likely dreamt about how this might look. I can speak for most(probably 99.9%) of women when I say that we want a man to pursue us. We want him to want to be with us. We want him to desire our affection. We want him to be willing to go to all lengths just for a chance of winning our love and devotion. We want him to fight to win our hearts! I might be making my case a little strong, but I truly believe a woman desires deep within her heart for someone to pursue her.
God did just that. He has constantly and relentlessly pursued our hearts. He has fought to show His love for us. How have we reacted to His pursuit? Many times, we've ignored it, too busy to even give it a second glance. We've scoffed at it by saying it's not enough. We've flirted with it when we thought it might work for us or when it felt good. We've pretended to care too, only to show love to other things.
I've done all these things and more. I can't number the times I've taken His pursuit for granted, just somehow always telling myself that He would be there when I got tired of my sin. And no doubt, He has been. He's been there, ready to forgive and welcome me back with open arms. Long-suffering and merciful to say the least.
I've done many things in my past I'm not proud of. I'm sure I don't need to list them all here. You know what I'm talking about. All those yucky things you wish you hadn't done and certainly wish you had no memory of. He was there, pursuing me. Pursuing you. He was trying to get your attention. He was calling your name. He was constantly doing different things to prove His love, especially for you. Things no one even knows about. He was there, looking at you like no one else was.
All our lives, He's been desiring to have perfect communion with us again. He wants us with Him for all of eternity. He's met us right where we have been, in all our filth and sin, loving us just as much as when we repented. No one can say that. No one can do that. Because He is love. He is the perfect One that has been able to pursue us like no other ever could...So I look back at where my pursuit for my Savior began...
It began with His pursuit for me.