The Posture of Pursuit
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” – Matthew 5:6, ESV
“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.” – A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, pg. 14, emphasis added
With a series titled “Pursuit” one of the greatest dangers is that it might foster in us a sort of self-help spiritual growth model. As if our anxious activism could bring about the kind of deeper sense of God’s presence for which we seek (and keep seeking). The reason this danger is both real and understood is that there is a kernel of truth to the idea. There are some things we must do. Pursuing God is not something one does while lounging about hoping that God’s presence and power stroll into our rather casual existence. But God’s presence and power is no more conjured up by our many activities and words for and about Him. In fact, far more often, our human centered activity creates a greater separation from God. It was God who told His people to shut the Temple (see Isaiah 1) and Jesus as God who drove people from it (see John 2). So, what does pursuit look like in practical terms? First, it comes from acknowledging that our pursuit is second. That is to say, as Tozer points out in The Pursuit of God, we pursue God only because He first pursues us. Our pursuit is a response. God is the one sending the invitation, our pursuit is our reply. Second, pursuit looks a lot more like surrender and reception than it does a to do list. We have to give up and die more to experience more of Christ’s life. Often when we talk about these matters we have them worded poorly. We are not saying that there is more of God than you’ve been given when the Holy Spirit came to dwell in you at regeneration. We are saying there is more of you that you need to surrender to God than you’ve given to Him so far. This means, that often the posture of pursuit is repentance. Dealing with sin in our lives is one of the biggest ways to invite God to be more actively present. This is why, in every revival, conviction of sin and repentance from it are the keynotes. If God becomes more actively present in your life or mine is up to Him. But if our posture is not one of humble repentance and desire for more, it is almost a sure thing that He will not honor us with more of His work in our lives. James 4:4-10 has this nicely outlined for us:
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Here then, we understand that the posture of pursuit is the posture of repentance. It is the posture of humility. It is the posture of waiting on God in expectation. He waits to be wanted. May we keep Him waiting no more.