Following Hard After God

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Read Psalm 63:8 this morning and ask yourself some questions: Can it be said of me that I am following hard after God? What does it look like to follow hard after God?

God in His infinite and prevenient grace has made Himself not only known but has acted in such a way that makes us willing and able to know Him. God acted first that we might act now. Our desire for God originates in His acting first. Grace.

And yet, we must pursue God as the Psalm teaches us. God has acted in great grace to make it even possible to know God, and yet we must pursue this. We are to be like the deer in Psalm 42 and pant and thirst for God. No must settle for nothing less.

God's grace was never meant to encourage or create lazy followers. Surety of salvation was not aimed here either. Rather, they are to free us to go after God hard no matter the costs. These and other truths ought to prime our pump for going after God hard because He first went after us. We ought to be people who are hungry for God. Even back to Psalm 63, our going hard after God is upheld and supported by God's right hand upholding us.

May we not be a people who have lost their wonder in God. May the fact of His grace and His Word and His seeking us stoke our fire for Him rather than quench or throttle it.

May we never forget that God is worthy of being pursued, and a relationship with Him can be developed continually. God can be known. In fact. John 17:3 says that this "knowing God" is actually eternal life.

We as humans bear His image and as such have been given the privilege of being able to know Him, to enjoy Him and His fellowship. To walk with Him, relationship. May we pursue this hard and in a way that God is truly worthy of being pursued.

Even though through grace and faith we have God, we are commanded to pursue Him, to know Him more. May we not settle for anything less. May we not be easily satisfied in our knowledge of God. May our hearts yearn for more of Him.

When we pursue Him hard, the finding will be all the more sweet. May this be us. May we desire nothing more than the glory of God. As AW Tozer says, "complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth". May this not be us. May we be deliberate about going after God hard.

God waits to be wanted. Will you pursue Him hard? May our experience with God not be shallow and may our worship not be hollow and rote. May we serve Him with all joy and gladness in our hearts. May we put away all efforts to impress God and simply come to Him as a child to His parents. And then we will see God respond.

We simply need God. May this be our greatest pursuit. Only God for God. No other hidden agendas. Simply pursuing God to know God. This is our calling and privilege. This is worship. He alone satisfies. He alone is worthy.

May we be like the Levite in Canaan who had no share in the land, to which God simply said to them "I am your inheritance". And this made them richer than they would ever been from the land. And here is the point: the man or woman who has God as their treasure has all things. They are richer for it. For in God we have it all. Total satisfaction and pleasures evermore.

May we see and pursue God this way. Going hard after God. never settling for superficial knowledge, but experiencing Him deeply daily.