To Know and Follow Hard After God
Good morning! I just wanted to share something lovely I found last night while reading King Saul’s story. One of my favorite verses is in the Psalms. David expresses that he is following hard after God. There is a beautiful song “To know and follow hard after You”….one of my favorites. Well, this thought is self explanatory and very descriptive. It pictures a heart sold-out completely to God, in every thought and action and inclination of heart. I love how the Holy Spirit uses concepts like this one. It is even more fascinating when He uses them consistently . It is very fun, and revealing of His heart, to find a concept repeated elsewhere in the word. It intensifies the meaning and our understanding of the heart of what is being said. There is always some similitude, or picture, idiom, that is being expressed when He does this. Look at this one: I only know of one other place in the word where this thought, this sentence, this same arrangement of words is used. Interestingly, it is in a battle scene in 1 Samuel 14:22. The picture is of men of Israel (Hebrews who were at one time on the side of the Philistines) allying themselves with King Saul because they loved Jonathan, his son…a mighty warrior, and man of God. It says that they joined Jonathan and “followed hard” after the Philistines. Now picture what this means: It means they were 1-relentless, 2-the Philistines couldn’t shake them. 3- they were on the Philistines heals, 4- they were grabbing hold of them by violence, 5- not taking defeat as an option, 6- If the Philistines were to look behind them what would they have seen? Capture, overcoming, seizing. 7- The end is a pursuer, who will not settle for anything but seizure of that which is pursued. We see this in a parable too. There is a king. A woman has a request. She is so doggedly determined that she won’t leave the king alone but pesters him till he is so weary of her she gets what she went in for. This concept has nothing to do with the getting of anything but Christ Himself. I love how God uses exaggerated parables to really communicate a point. Of course He wants us to “pester” Him. It is not possible to “pester” God. He desires it. It is seen also when the woman with an issue of bleeding for 12 years grabs hold of His garment and there is an appearance of “pestering” Christ. He is showing many things here with this woman. One is that she had the right idea out of everyone there. It was a set up. He wanted it to happen exactly as it did to show the others that this is how He is “got” so to speak. Just grab hold and don’t let go!!! What did He say when she did? Tim, Garrett and I were discussing this a few days ago. I felt power go from Me. Did we get that? I felt power go from Me. Then all He could say was that He marveled at her faith. She didn’t even want to be seen or recognized. She just wanted His life. What a perfect picture of the violent grabbing hold of God. This is how to get hold of Christ, after He has got hold of you. Seize Him. Follow hard after Him and do not give up. “With all thy getting” get Him…(Wisdom…which is Christ). Nothing can beat the King James in so many instances. The following hard is another way to say, get with all thy getting. This is the overcoming life in Christ. Get Him with all thy getting. We see this concept first when the Passover was instituted. The Israelites were to kill the Lamb and eat it. But listen to this: They were to eat all of it…leaving nothing till morning! Jesus said if you do not eat My flesh and drink My blood, you have no part in Me! This is not just referring to communion. This is a visceral picture of consuming Christ for life, the overcoming life in Him. It is following hard after Jesus. It is grabbing hold of His heals and refusing to let go. Again…eat His flesh and drink His blood! Jesus is to be consumed. Remember that the Kingdom of God permits violence…and violent men take it by force. The Christian walk is nowhere seen as a passive one. It is aggressively holy. It is aggressively hard. It is aggressively passionate. Aggressively determined. Aggressively believing God. Aggressively seeking out His Mind, His heart, His ways. It is therefore, aggressively satisfying!!! And nothing else but this is. Here is where the believer is transformed into the overcomer…in the relentless getting and consuming of Christ! God by You!Pass it on!Love,C
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