Wisdom of the week

"THE HOUND OF HEAVEN"

     Ron Hutchcraft, in one of his daily devotionals, A Word With You, told of a "party that had been going just fine until a doctor who was there got very offended by something another guest said. In a rage, he stormed out and slammed the door behind him. Someone said, 'At last, he's gone.' The host corrected him. 'No, he's not gone. That's a closet!' " 

     Many who are running from God think they can get away from His pursuit of them. Good luck with that!  The Psalmist, David, wrote: "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn and dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me" (Psa. 139: 7-10). I think back all the way to those who "invented" running from God--the first man and woman God created.  In the Garden of Eden we see that Adam and Eve, after disobeying God's very clear command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, ran and "hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden" (Gen. 3:8b).  God could justly have just left them in their guilt and misery, but, in His compassion, mercy, and love, He pursued them and provided a covering for their sin and shame. "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them" (v. 21). There was the shedding of blood of an innocent substitute, foreshadowing when God Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, who, though without sin, would offer His life, shedding His blood, to provide forgiveness of sin and redemption (II Cor. 5:21; Eph. 1:7).   We have all inherited the sinful nature from Adam (Ro. 5:12), and running from God is in our "spiritual DNA"!

     Thankfully, God has been pursuing sinners ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, to offer them forgiveness and eternal life, and to transform their lives.  Saul of Tarsus was headed to Damascus, with authority from the religious leaders of the Jews to arrest and even kill followers of Jesus, a movement at that time called "the Way" (Acts 9:1,2).  He was definitely not "pursuing" a relationship with Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ was "pursuing him." We have the exciting, dramatic story recorded by Luke in Acts 9:3-19.  Saul's life was completely transformed. From being a persecutor of Jesus' followers, He became "the bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God" (Rom. 1:1 cf Acts 9:15). Saul of Tarsus became Paul the missionary and brought the gospel to Asia Minor and to Europe. 

     British poet Francis Thompson (1859-1907) attempted to flee from God, only to be relentlessly pursued by Divine grace and miraculously saved and transformed. He wrote a poem in 1893 which he entitled "The Hound of Heaven." He describes the loving pursuit of Jesus in "tracking him down." The poem relates Thompson's experience of hitting rock bottom, struggling with addiction, but discovering that God had not abandoned him, but in fact, had brought him to the turning point of his life, as he put his trust in Jesus to save him and Francis Thompson became a "new creature in Christ" (II Cor. 5:17). 

     Jim Vaus was a notorious underworld figure known as "wiretapper to the mob." He worked for Los Angeles gangster Mickey Cohen of the Al Capone gang. Vaus attended Billy Graham's first major crusade, the 1949 "Canvas Cathedral" tent meetings in Los Angeles, but not because he was seeking Christ; he went with the intent of disrupting the meeting. But the "Hound of Heaven" had other plans. Jim's heart was convicted and he found himself walking forward down the sawdust aisle to invite Jesus Christ to be his personal Savior, and was wonderfully converted.  As a result, Vaus left the criminal underworld entirely, began giving his testimony at various Billy Graham crusades, and wrote a book, Why I Quit the Mob. He spent the rest of his life in Christian ministry. 

      If you are among those who were "chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4), be sure, that the "Hound of Heaven," in His pursuing love, will track you down!  It may require your hitting "rock bottom" so you are forced to look up. God, in His great mercy and love, will do whatever it takes to "track you down." Praise the Lord!     If you are one who has been running from God, how about stopping and looking to Christ who, through His sacrifice for you, is the only way of salvation (Jn. 14:6; Acts 4:12). His arms are open wide, inviting you to come home to the only One who can provide that purpose, joy, and satisfaction in life you have been pursuing. They are only available in Him.

Forever His,
Pastor Dave N