There is no one that seeks after God…no not one! Life is about pursuit, in fact if you think for just a moment how you came to be, you will quickly come to the realization that you exist because of this pursuit. At some point in time your father pursued your mother, in our society today that could just as well be reversed. But never the less the pursuit was still on.

Even in the wild we witness this pursuit…cars pursue dogs (maybe not intentionally), dogs pursue cats, cats pursue mice, and mice pursue cheese. In the end there is usually only one winner. I have thought at length about this and have even cringed a time or two about the things I have pursued in my own life. It seems that we rarely take time to consider our cause, or wonder at all the things we have chased. A better life, more money, more time, more cars, more kids (ok maybe this only applies to us). Facebook, Instagram, snapchat, and all the rest of our social media outlets have only exacerbated the problem as they encourage us to pursue more friends, more followers, more likes, more views, and more shares.

It appears that most of the time the chase is only about the chase, and never about the thing we are chasing. If it were it could be assumed that eventually we would find our satisfaction…sadly we don’t. Instead we find something else to chase, to conquer, to explore. Solomon might say it is a chasing after of the wind. Men go fishing only to release what they have caught while they continue to fish. We rise early and head to the woods in search of the bigger buck. Content in knowing that behind that yearling lies the possibility of killing the buck of a lifetime; in the end it is usually only time that we have killed. Knowing we have now wasted much of the morning we hurry to make the most of the time we have left in the day as if somehow that time could be redeemed.

The phrase often attributed to the great philosopher René Descartes, “I think therefore I am” was I think incomplete. Perhaps old René was cut off in mid-sentence by some over ambitious disciple whom marveled at his thought. No, I think what he meant to say was “I think therefore I…am going to do things differently.” What do I mean? Well, as I have thought about this idea of pursuing, it dawned on me that what we often times are pursuing are things or objects of worth. You might say they are symbols of status and power and prestige. We seek that which sets us apart from others. What we have failed to realize in the flurry of activity that defines our search is that we too are being sought; sought by one who wants to set us apart. Not by wealth, power, prestige or honor…but simply by our identification. He wants to make us sons and daughters.

Yet we also are being pursued by something of much greater consequence…we are being pursued by the law; the law that was laid down at Sinai so many years ago. Make no mistake we will be captured either by the law or by the grace of He whom laid down that law.

This thought continues to take hold of me, as I consider my children, I wonder have I done enough to pursue their own hearts. Have I beheld them as I have been beheld by my Father. Or have I taught them only to pursue the things that perish. Yes, “I think and therefore” I am going to do things differently. I will teach my children that the grandest of all pursuits is indeed the hearts of men and women alike. When I have taught them that, I can say that I have taught them the most important thing.