He Still Pursues
Have you noticed that God is always pursuing your heart in the most personal ways?
Even, or maybe especially, when you feel like you don’t deserve it?
I will admit, I’m not always paying attention to it, but when I intentionally look for it, I’m blown away at the little (and big) things that I usually skim right past.
He Still Pursues
If you’re anything like me, you need the constant reminder that God’s pursuit of you is not based on your performance or what you bring to the table for Him.
It’s based on His unchanging character.
Since early June, God has been layering the theme of The Prodigal Son in my mind.
However, it wasn’t until recently coming back from a Seattle trip to see some family that I started paying less attention to the son and more to the Father.
Quick recap of The Prodigal Son in Luke 15: It takes place with community around a table (which, of course, I love).
Jesus is eating with sinners, and some religious leaders are complaining about it.
In a stunning response to their questioning of His choices, Jesus tells three stories about lost things getting found, shifting from large scale possessions (100 sheep) to much more personal relationships (1 lost son).
His point is not necessarily the lost things; it’s about the one doing the finding.
The Running Father
In the cultural context, this story is beautifully known as “The Parable of the Running Father.”
Don’t you love that?
The son, who brought so much shame onto the family and the entire community through radical rebellion, starts trying to figure out how to work his way back into his father’s good graces.
And where most of us would say, “Yep. He better come groveling… or maybe not at all,” Jesus shows His character to be completely opposite.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”
Mercy in His Eyes
In a culture where men never ran - their robes were too long because it was shameful to show their legs - this father hikes up his robe, taking the shame fully onto himself, and runs to embrace his son.
Jesus finishes his story, and I can only imagine the look on their stunned faces.
I’m sure I have made the exact same look before at one point or another.
Certainly, the people around the table were realizing that Jesus was saying, “Not only do I choose to eat with sinners, I go looking for and running towards them.”
Maybe you need the reminder that you have a Father who comes running after you with mercy in His eyes, still pursuing you in personal ways.
Or maybe you need the reminder that He is still in full pursuit of someone’s heart that you love dearly, and it is His character to find them.
Either way, you can rest assured that He is in full pursuit, because that is who He is - a good, running Father.
Father, thank you that you are unlike any other,
always teaching us that your heart runs after us,
pursuing us in beautiful, personal ways.
Open our eyes to see the way you are pursuing us today,
and help us to fall into your embrace.
Amen
