Do You Seek God?
We live in a world where many people call themselves Christians, but few actually pursue God. If you read the opening chapter or two of A.W. Tozer’s book, The Pursuit of God, , you’ll find him longing to know God more deeply. There are many good modern-day theological and apologetic writers and preachers that are among us. They do a great job of teaching the truths of the Bible but seem unconcerned that God doesn’t seem to be there in their midst.
When you read the Bible, you see men and women who were not content to know God exists simply, or to just go through the motions of the religious requirements set before them. No, they wanted to know God. They wanted to experience Him. They pursued Him.
A.W. Tozer writes in the preface to the before-mentioned book, In this hour of all-but-universal darkness, one cheering gleam appears: within the fold of conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself. They are eager for spiritual realities and will not be put off with words, nor will they be content with correct “interpretations” of truth. They are athirst for God, and they will not be satisfied until they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water.”
A.W. Tozer goes on to discuss that many ministries exist which teach sound doctrine briefly, yet God does not manifest. There is nothing unusual in their personal lives. “They constantly minister to believers who feel within their breasts a longing which their teaching simply does not satisfy.”
A true walk with God had so much more to offer than the religious regiment offered in the weekly services. Tozer writes, “It is a solemn thing, and no small scandal in the Kingdom, to see God’s children starving while seated at the Father’s table. The truth of Wesley’s words is established before our eyes: ‘Orthodoxy, or right opinion, is, at best, a very slender part of religion.'”
The Bible makes it clear that a love for God and fellow man is paramount above all. Consider Jesus’ words.
Matthew 22:36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37: Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38: This is the first and greatest commandment. 39: And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40: All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Romans 10:17 teaches us, So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. As Tozer writes, “The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.”
Tozer’s book is a modest attempt to aid us to find and experience God in an authentic, practical way. (Tozer wrote this book over six decades ago) There are spiritual realities that can draw you closer in your walk with God and help you to experience Him as you and pursue a personal relationship.
Editor: JJ Michael Smith
God bless,
igotasavior
