Time To Engage: "Following Hard After God”

Time To Engage

“Following Hard After God”

Watch on YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFndeU2Ewgg

Let me get this out of the way, and that is, I’m not saying it’s hard to follow God. In fact, God even said it isn’t. In fact,  He said it was downright easy, which is something we looked at last week in our Distant Discipleship teaching. 

“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

In fact, the Apostle John said that His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). And I love what Blackaby said in his “Experiencing God” series. He said, “When God gives a command, He is not restricting you. He is freeing you.”

Therefore, what we are talking about isn’t too difficult to do or to understand, it’s not a burden, and that’s because God has put it in our hearts. 

 Now, there’s a doctrine, teaching if you would, that says before someone can seek God, God must first have sought them. It states that people are inherently sinful and therefore cannot rightly think about God; therefore, God must illuminate their minds and their hearts to His presence. 

Basically, what this is saying is that we pursue God because God first pursues us and has puts within us the urge, a longing if you would, to pursue Him. This is seen in what Jesus said. 

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44 NKJV)

It’s by this very drawing that God takes away any credit that we may or want to take for our salvation. 

The Apostle Paul said it this way, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV) 

And to make sure we don’t forget God’s work within us, he goes on to say, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV)

And so, God did it all, and we have the distinct pleasure of joining in with Him. 

This is something we have been studying in our “Experiencing God” study, and even this week, Blackaby said, “The witness of the entire Bible testifies that God pursues us and orchestrates ways for us to experience Him.”

And so, this overall impulse to follow after God originates with God, but here’s the kicker and what’s at the heart of today’s message, and that is, it’s our responsibility to follow. 

You see, God doesn’t put a chain around our necks once we accept Him as our Savior and Lord, and drags us behind Him. Rather, He has set us free from bondage and does it all for us, and all He asks is for us to follow and obey. And, as we saw in what the Lord said in Deuteronomy 30, obeying God and following Him isn’t hard at all. 

We see this throughout the Bible as we’re told time and again to seek the Lord. This is seen in what the prophet Isaiah said, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” (Isaiah 55:6 NKJV)

But there’s no place where this whole doctrine or teaching is more eloquently stated than when King David proclaimed, “My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:8 NKJV)

And I love this verse especially given last week’s message on how we tend to follow God at a distance. But here’s the neat part, as we purpose to follow hard after God, He upholds and strengthens us in the process. This is seen in a beautiful analogy given by the Psalmist of a deer in search for water. 

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2 NKJV)

Only a longing heart for God’s mercy and grace can know such a desire. The problem, however, is that such a longing isn’t seen that often in the church. Jesus is received as Savior and Lord, but there really isn’t any special love or desire to follow Him.