The chase is on! (church bulletin cover)

I went swimming with my 11-year old son the other day. At first, we threw a ball back and forth. That was okay. We splashed each other a bit, but he didn't like that much. Then I began to chase him, and he was immediately excited!

A good chase can cause an adrenaline rush. In a movie, a good chase scene can be worth the ticket price. There's suspense in it. Where will it lead? To what extremes will it go? Well, I believe we're meant to apply that sense of excitement and urgency to our pursuit of God.

Look at Paul's choice of words in 1 Timothy 6:11 -- "But as for you, O man of God, flee these things! Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness and gentleness." In other words, we're being chased and we're chasing something ourselves. Does that excite us or would we prefer a more sedate Christian life? The message of this verse is that we have no choice -- the chase is on! Either we flee or get caught. And if we flee, it's best that we run to Jesus and pursue the life He intends us to live.

Paul's very next words are "Fight the good fight of the faith" (1 Timothy 6:12). This reinforces the fact that we're in an aggressive situation whether we like it or not, and we might as well embrace the excitement of it all! My son Nicholas was excited by the chase I provided for him because he knew the person chasing him is his friend. As a man or woman of God, we can be excited by the chase of faith because we know the One we're pursuing is infinitely greater than the sin we're fleeing from.

This means we're in the most exciting chase-scene imaginable! We're fleeing the temptations of the enemy of our souls and pursuing a God who lives right inside of us so that He can help us to live godly lives and deliver us from temptation. The only suspense about such a chase is provided by the choices we make, because the outcome is clear: Jesus, the One we pursue, catches our pursuer, and we will one day see Jesus' glory (1 Timothy 6:13-16).

Here's a short sample of a foot chase unlike any you've probably ever scene. Let it be indicative of how determined we are to flee from sin as we pursue the One who gives us strength to run!



© 2009 by Ken Peters