We all know how frustrated we can feel while searching for personal items which have been lost or misplaced. Almost comical are our efforts to rack our brains and retrace our steps looking for something which we soon discover has been in plain sight all along. But, there are some things we search for that are of much greater significance than a lost pair of glasses or a misplaced purse or wallet.
For Christians, ours is a search for the Lord and His favor. This pursuit ought to be life’s objective. We must spare no expense or leave any stone unturned in our desire to draw close to God. A lot of people never find life’s true objective because they do not give themselves to its pursuit. Moses said that when you “seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul” (Dt. 4:29 cf. Jer. 29:13). What a change could be made in our lives if we sought the Lord with as much intensity and desire as expended in our search for a lost set of car keys! Keep things in perspective. An automobile can take us to the store or to a ballgame; but the Lord can take us to heaven!
In many ways, our lives are measured by our pursuits. If a life is spent in the pursuit of the world and its pleasures, it will have been horribly wasted (1 Jn. 2:15-17). In the end, the true epitaph of such a life will be a pitiful reminder of the foolishness of forgetting life’s most important objective (Lk. 12:15-21).
We were created with an innate desire to pursue someone or something (Eccl. 3:11). Unhappiness is the result of not pursuing God’s intended purpose for our lives; but, instead, following after the false promises of the world. Christians should pursue such things as “life” (Mt. 7:14), “compassion” (Prov. 28:13), “rest” (Mt. 11:29), “goodness” (Prov. 16:20), and “grace” (Heb. 4:16). These are among life’s most noble pursuits – things that make life worth living – things that honor and glorify our Creator. Such things do not just fall into our laps. Happiness and fulfillment in life is not an accident or a matter of blind luck. Jesus says, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Mt. 7:7). Claiming “His precious and magnificent promises” (2 Pet. 1:4), we must take up life’s greatest pursuit, giving ourselves completely to our search for God. Let us join in the search with joyous determination and earnest longing.
— Glen Elliott —