Pursuing God

You seldom catch that which you do not chase. Our granddaughter, Elsie Adara, likes to play chase with me. Her squeals and giggles make it great fun. Except, Elsie Adara does not want anyone else to be part of the game. She wants me to chase only her. After I catch her, she wants to chase only me. If her older cousins want to play, she puts a hand on her hip and sternly declares, “You can’t play; Big Daddee is chasing ME.” Elsie wants the attention to be on her. She is not interested in watching someone be chased.

How Many Things Do You Chase

What are we chasing? Some chase ministry, or a church that allows them to relax without significant responsibility. Some chase position, title, and honor. What if like Elsie’s adaptation of “chase” there was only ONE to chase after? The one we sought without exception being Jesus.

Unfortunately, there are other players in the game. These distract from our pursuit of Jesus. Our personal devotion is abandoned because it does not seem to move us toward what we want. If this is the case, we are chasing the wrong thing.

Knowing Him or Knowing About Him

Paul clarified the priorities: “ . . . that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” (Philippians 3:10 NKJV). Paul did not say, “I want to know about Him.” Paul wanted to know Him.

How much can I get to know Him by listening to two hours of preaching each week?
How much can I know of Him by reading another book?
Can I come to know Him by singing every song in a hymnal?

We can know a smidgen about Him by any contact with His spirit and His word; but knowing Him only comes through having consistent personal devotion with Him.

My latest book, Keep It Simple Saints – Personal Devotion, gives several patterns for pursuing Him.

Two books that benefited my own desire to pursue Him:

The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

Encounters with God by Henry Blackaby

(If you purchase either book via clicking a link, the author of the blog receives a small affiliate marketing fee from Amazon.)

Remember the first in my "Keep It Simple Saints (K.I.S.S.) - Personal Devotion releases July 5. It can be ordered at a pre-release discount. The discount is 20%. Making your price $7.99.

To contact Carlton L. Coon Sr. as a speaker, for a guest blog post, or podcast - email carltoncoonsr@gmail.com.

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If you liked this blog, you might like my previous blogs on Keep It Simple Saints: Personal Devotion IS Quiet Time and Having Forgotten the Focus.