When Following Becomes A Chase
Pastor Gary Mason – Medicine Hat Family Church
Something powerful happens in our lives when our following Jesus turns into a chase. While the two words are synonyms, the word chase implies more of the idea of chasing in order to catch. It’s like David saying, “My soul follows hard after thee” (Ps. 63:8 KJV), or when he said, “As the deer pants for the water so my soul longs for thee” (Ps. 42:1 NKJV).
Have you ever seen a deer come to the watering hole? It’s actually quite a picture. You see, the deer knows by instinct it needs the water, yet it also knows by instinct that its safety is at risk when it comes out into the open. Predators often wait by places, like the watering hole, for prey to come and drink. The deer will actually come close to the edge of the bush near the water and stand there till they know the coast is clear of danger. If the deer senses any danger, they will run back into the safety of the bush. The picture that we are seeing in Psalms is of a deer that has gone some time without water and is now, once again, standing on the edge of the bush, knowing that it needs the water for its very life. The deer has become so thirsty that, as it pants for the water, its chest is literally heaving with deep breaths. Thirsting so heavily, the deer will come to the place where it’s willing to risk its safety, and therefore, its very life to get the drink. It’s with this picture in mind that David says, “so pants my soul for You, oh God.” David is talking about wanting God and His will and His plan so much that he will risk anything, and everything to get it, including his own dreams, plans, and vision for his life.
This is one of the first requirements of us if we are going to be men and women of God: we have to deny ourselves and follow Christ. We have to learn to put down our own ideas, philosophies, plans, dreams, and whatever else that could get in the way, and follow hard after God and His plan. If we don’t first learn to deny ourselves and follow Christ, we will end up as those spoken of in 2nd Timothy,
“having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (2 Tim. 3:5 NKJV)
This is where many Christians are today and, also, why many people see no need to become Christian. They lack the power that is to make their lives different. The power becomes available when we decide, that no matter what it takes, we are going to fulfill God’s plan not our plan or anybody else’s plan for our lives. We must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Christ.
What does it mean to take up our cross? The answer is actually very easy. Jesus’ assignment in life was the cross. Jesus’ call in life here on earth was to go to the cross and die for the sins of the world, thus redeeming man back into relationship with the Father God. The cross that we are to take up is simply our assignment from God. God’s plan for our lives is our assignment. The “following hard after thee” is something that comes the more we attend to our assignment. The more I follow after Christ or accomplish my assignment the more of God’s presence I know. His presence is right in the middle of His will for my life.
When the presence touches the palette
There is something about the presence of God that causes a desire in man to have more. When you have tasted of God’s presence first-hand, there is a desire put on the inside of you that wants more of that presence. It’s like the days of old. When a mother would wean a child, she would take some solid food and put it on the palette of the mouth causing the child to swallow. The child would soon develop a desire for solid food. Milk alone would no longer be enough for the child to live. Solid food would become a craving for the child that would last a lifetime.
First-hand smoke
When we enter the presence of God, even one time, it creates a craving in our lives that can only be answered by more of that presence. One man referred to it as first-hand smoke. It’s not second-hand smoke that you sense when you’ve been in the room with others who have touched the presence of God and you sensed it because you were there on the outside watching; it’s the first-hand smoke that comes when you’ve touched God, you knew His presence. What you allow to touch the palette of your life is what will cause your cravings for the rest of your life.
This is why, when the Bible says in Proverbs to train a child in the way he should go, it can also say that when he is old he won’t depart from it. The word train here means to touch the palette. Solomon knew that, if we would touch the palette with the right things, we would create cravings in our children that would lead our children in the right direction for the rest of their lives. Just as a parent must carefully watch and guide who touches their child’s palette, and for what reason they touch it, we become responsible for what we allow to touch our palette. What we allow to create cravings in our lives is what we allow to direct us. Following after Christ means that we allow the Holy Spirit of God, and those leaders that have been placed in our lives by God, to touch the palettes of our lives and create the cravings that will direct us. We must become directed by the Holy Spirit. We must follow hard after the plan of God and His will for our lives.
This happens when we follow hard after His presence. In His presence we are refreshed and find fullness of joy.
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19 NKJV)
“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Ps. 16:11 NKJV)
In His presence, He is able to download His plan for our lives, what he sees for us. The picture is so huge that, without knowing that He is with us, we could never accept it. The more time we spend in His will we spend in His presence. It’s the way we take His presence with us throughout our day. His presence is with us as we are in His will. Then his power is with us. Then we know the confidence that, if we ask anything in His name, He hears us and if He hears us he answers us.
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” (1 John 5:14-15 NKJV)
We must come to desire His presence. We must come to desire His will. We must come to the point where we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Christ. It must become our consuming passion to be in His will and plan for us.