There is nothing I respect more than someone who relentlessly pursues something. As a football coach (and a defensive one at that) all the schemes and situations really matter a whole lot less than 11 guys relentlessly pursuing the guy with the football. We demand it in practice, it helps us win games (and lose them if we don't pursue relentlessly), and the people watching from the bleachers can tell if a team is relentlessly pursuing their goal of tackling the guy with the football. The guys that run the hardest to the football are usually the guys that try the hardest in the classroom and work the hardest at relationships. There is something undeniably admiring to any sports fan about an athlete who relentlessly and passionately pursues their goal.
The first King of Israel, Saul, gets a bad rap because of some of the selfish things he did as his reign as king began to end, and rightfully so. He became arrogant and selfish, and neither of those things are very admirable traits. But that guy knew how to relentlessly pursue someone.
From 1 Samuel 18 until his death 1 Samuel 31, Saul is relentlessly pursuing David and trying to kill him. While his desired result (killing the man after God's own heart) may not be the purest of motives, there is no denying the passionate pursuit of a man who knew exactly what he wanted.
There aren't many more examples of that kind of relentless pursuit in the Bible or elsewhere. But I dug around my sword and found a few:
Abraham pursuing God's righteousness, at the cost of his son's life: Genesis 22
Jacob pursuing his wife Rachel: Genesis 29
Solomon's pursuit of the meaning of life: Ecclesiastes and his story in Kings
Paul's pursuit of righteousness: The whole book of Acts
I am a passionate person. My goal in sports was always to play harder than anyone else on the field or court. But my pursuit of Christ and righteousness is not always like that. The separation of relentless pursuit and pursuit is consistency. Nobody wants a guy that'll go hard for 2 plays and take 1 play off. The consistency of the pursuit is the whole key to the relentless. Sometimes it doesn't happen on the first try. Or the first 100. It takes relentless consistent pursuit to get what you want.
There is, however, more than one side to the coin. Saul's pursuit was definitely relentless, but his desired goal was totally wrong. And look what happened (spoiler alert) he ended up killing himself instead of David. You have got to pursue the right things in order to achieve what you desire. I have pursued a lot of things that aren't really what its all about. We all do. Money, success, recognition, relationships, sex, drugs, alcohol, winning games, beating someone else at something, etc.
I am a brick wall sprinter type personality. I go as hard as I can after something until God puts a brick wall up in front of me, I slam into it, bounce off, and run the other direction. And the more walls I slam into, the more my path of relentless pursuit changes from the aforementioned things and is guided towards Jesus. It's helped narrow my path from having a building named after me, winning a ton of games, making lots of money, and being the coach of a major program to wanting to be a great husband and father, loving on all my athletes and fellow coaches, and serving my church and my community.
I haven't figured this out by any stretch, and I just really needed to hear this myself. I guess what I am trying to say are these two things:
1. Relentlessly pursue your goals and dreams in your life.
2. Make sure your relentless pursuit is towards getting to know Jesus, and #1 will take care of itself.
Are you relentlessly pursuing anything right now? Why or Why not?
Is what you're pursuing something selfish or is it for others?
What can you do to better relentlessly pursue your relationship with your Father? (like write in your blog more often than once every 5 months)
Dig around on it a while. Struggle with it.
Good stuff miss. I love the story of Jacob working "forever" to gain the hand of Rachel. It is a great story of the sacrifices made for love. I think another great example is God's unrelenting pursuit of us despite our own refusals and stubbornness towards him. Our call is to imitate God(eph 5:1). I believe that includes His ability to "relentlessly pursue". We need, more than anything else, to be in pursuit of Him. And when we pursue him, we quickly realize that to truly pursue God and his will is to grant God total control of our life. When we grant God control, I believe he uses us to relentlessly pursue the lost, the hurting, the depressed, the weary, the lonely, and the people in the margins. He was willing to sacrifice so much for us, but unfortunately, many times our "relentless" pursuit comes to a screeching halt when we realize that it involves sacrifice...sacrifice doesn't sound like any fun, so we stay away...too bad we are so smart. I think God knows better than any of us that true joy is found in sacrificing ourselves out of love for others...i think it probably would make us happier than a "new jeep" : )or "house" or "big bank account", or whatever other pleasures we pursue in front of God...
ReplyDeleteEPH 5:1 - Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.