I was reading “Not a Fan” by Kyle Idlemanand this section on passionately pursuing Jesus really stood out to me. I want this in my own life, but rarely have it. I am just going to type out the sections.
“Pursuing a romantic love will make us do some crazy things. When I was dating my soon-to-be wife, she borrowed my car to go visit her family about eighty miles away from where we went to college. She had only been gone for a day, but I missed her and wanted to be with her. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t stop thinking about her. I wanted to see her and tell her I loved her. I had to do something. My college roommate was sleeping in the bed across the room. I woke him up and told him my dilemma, but he couldn’t do much to help because he didn’t have a car. Suddenly, I had what seemed like a brilliant idea. I said to him, ‘What if we just ride bikes over to her house?’
He was up for it, but this new plan presented us with a similar problem as before: neither of us owned bikes. Then my buddy reminded me of the bikes on campus. We decided it would be fine to “borrow” the bikes for our journey.
Knowing nothing about bicycles, I grabbed the first one I saw, which happened to be a Walmart special. It turns out that this is not the bike of choice for an eighty-mile journey down the flat roads of Kansas against constant headwind. After riding for hours, we decided to park our bikes and take a nap in a ditch on the side of the road. While we were sleeping, a state trooper saw us and pulled over to investigate. He woke me up by placing his boot on my shoulder and jostling me awake. I believe his exact words were, “Are you boys smokin’ something? What are you doing riding bikes across Kansas?
I tried to explain” “I wanted to be with my fiancée.” He rolled his eyes, shook his head, got in his car, and drove away. He thought I was crazy for doing such a thing. If Nat could see me now.
When we finally make it to Kansas, my wife’s response was fairly similar to the state trooper’s She thought I was nuts. But the moment I saw her I knew it was worth it.”
“Jesus wants us to understand that following him is a pursuit that requires everything we have. Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 13 called “The Pearl of Great Price.” It gives us a picture of what Jesus had in mind when he invited us to come after him. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.’ “
Jesus is that treasure! We should sell everything in our lives because we know the true treasure in that field! Fans are shallow and think spending energy on Jesus is too much work. Followers think it’s a joy to sell everything and live radically for Jesus because they know that they are just scratching the surface of that treasure.
“Do you like me? yes? no? maybe? Remember these words of Jesus are the words of an invitation, not a command. Jesus begins the invitation to come after him with the word “if.” That indicates that there is a choice in the matter. One of the most basic truths about love is that it can’t be forced. If you try and force someone to love you it’s almost a guarantee that they won’t.”
“Pursuing Jesus is your choice and Jesus wants to make it clear what you’re agreeing to if you respond to his invitation. He will settle for nothing less than to be the great love and pursuit of your life. That’s what he wants. At church, we sometimes talk about how “God wants your time,” or “God wants your money,” or “God wants your worship.” But do you understand why we talk about those things?” “The reason we talk about hose things is not because God needs or wants those things; it’s because he wants you. He wants your love. He longs for you to passionately pursue him, and all those things are come after indicators. They are outer signs that point to an inner reality that you love Jesus more than anything else.”
The author tells how to regain that passionate love for Jesus; first to repent and then do as you did when you had that love for Jesus. “That’s a great place to start in your relationship with Christ. Confess the sin of acedia (the attitude of “I don’t care”) in your life then start doing the things you did at first.” “Recommit your love to God and then passionately pursue Him. David put it this way in Ps. 63:8 “My soul followeth hard after thee….”
Anyways, those are the parts that got my attention. Am I in love with Jesus? Am I pursuing Him? I am going to be striving to have that passionate relationship with Him. He is the Lover of our Souls. Follow Him today.
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