"I hold on to You for dear life, and you hold me steady as a post..." Psalm 63

Monday, August 16, 2010

The Pursuit of God...

Interestingly, all my life I've heard of the book with this title, and upon moving a few weeks ago discovered that I own it, but I have never once read its' contents.  After trudging through a book I started a few weeks ago and never really being able to motivate myself to finish it during my quiet times, I've decided it's wasting my time and set it aside.  So, this morning I went looking for something new to read...something with a little more depth that might cause me to have to think, yearn, worship and maybe even stir conviction. 
The Pursuit of God {by A.W. Tozer} caught my eye first and I guess it's about time I discover why, after over 50 years it is still being talked about.  I have to readjust my thinking when reading something written in "old English" form and filled with quotes from the King James Version of the Word, but it does make me think...and I guess that's the point. Reading some of the background of Tozer helped to set the stage for how amazing his ministry really was.  People in his time called him a prophet- that's pretty unheard of for someone with no formal education or training.  His education and training happened on his knees with his Bible in hand and constant prayer on his lips.  I dare to say that this kind of education would not be acknowledged in our day as "enough" to qualify one for a job in the pulpit or a hundred other ministry positions.  {That's interesting to me.  Makes me think either A) we don't believe it's possible to be educated soley by the Holy Spirit or B) we're so consumed by programs and formalities that we may possibly miss an Ordained opportunity right in front of us.}  Anyway, AW Tozer was an intense man.  He was intent on pursuing the heart and mind of God and encouraging the Christians around the world to think and study for themselves, not just sit on a pew and soak in someone else's studying. 

At first glance it surprises me that someone who looks like this guy {and by that I mean that he's very old, very conservative-looking, and very old school!} has so much to tell me that was not only relevant for his day, but also to mine.  He must have really twisted the faces of the church leaders of his day.  Actually, he might twist the faces of a few modern day church leaders, too.  His concern was to know the heart of God.  Not programs or pretenses...just the intense pursuit of God Himself.  I like him, I think he makes me think. 

"To have found God and still pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love, scorned
 indeed by the too easily satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience
by the children of the burning heart." 
A.W. Tozer

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