Hot Pursuit
Did you know that you can find personal fulfillment from the principles shown to us in one
6-verse passage in Matthew? Here it is, straight from Jesus' mouth:
Matthew 28:5-10
"And the angel answered and said to the women, Do not fear, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead. And, behold, He goes before you into Galilee. There you shall see Him. Lo, I have told you. And they quickly departed from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. But as they were going to report to His disciples, behold, Jesus also met them, saying, Hail! And they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid; go tell My brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see Me.This small passage gives us more guidance for how to obtain fulfillment than many entire self-help books.
1. Seek Him
It opens with a messenger from God who acknowledges that Mary and Mary are seeking Jesus. All our lives, our central purpose should be to seek Jesus. And He has promised that if we seek Him with all our heart, unlike the U2 song, we will find what we are looking for:Jeremiah 29:13
"And you shall seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."Question: Are you pursuing Him with 70% of your heart? 90%? 50%? Not good enough. The Hebrew word for "all" in the verse above means the same thing in Hebrew as it does in English.
2. Tell others, without fear
"tell His disciples He has risen from the dead"Spreading the Good News is inseparable from knowing Him.
"Do not be afraid; go tell My brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see Me. " We need to see that fear is one weapon the enemy uses against us, in order to keep us from telling others. Once Satan's lies are exposed, they become toothless.
Question: Are you praying for the opportunity to boldly share the Good News of His resurrection with those whom God has placed in your life?
3. Worship Him
"And they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him" We were created to worship Him. All of creation was created for this purpose. We should examine ourselves honestly and determine if we are giving Him all the worship that we can. If we are following Him for any other purpose, even an honorable one, we are missing out on what we were made for. Just as a football can be used to play baseball, with very undesirable results, we can forge through life without being worshippers, but we will never be truly fulfilled until we set about accomplishing His purposes for us. And though we all have different purposes, the one common thread is that we were made to be worshippers.Question: How is your worship life?
Truly, these 3 principles are intertwined. It is hard to imagine being enthusiastic enough to tell others about Him without feeling like worshipping Him ourselves. It is hard to imagine seeking Him wholeheartedly without bowing down before Him in worship. And it is hard to imagine seeking Him and finding Him, as Mary and Mary did, without wanting to let others know. So it all comes down to the first item on the list. Seeking Him. Pursuing Him. Are you walking along life's path, doing your job, making relationships, going to church, singing hymns when you are supposed to, and hoping you experience Him along the way, or are you in hot pursuit of Him?
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