"The Pursuit of God"

I think I think a lot. And this morning I was thinking about God. I have been a bit sick for the last two days, so today I'm going to take it easy. As I was going down to have breakfast, I grabbed one of my favourite books, "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer. It's really a great book in my opinion. Anyway, I went on to read the preface, which I tend to skip in some books, but I really like this preface, and as English is not my first language I seem to understand some things better or discover something else each time I read it. I read something that I hadn't understood before, and needed to hear. These couple of last days I have been sort of fighting with my Spirit. I've been discouraged by a few things, I have felt weak in my faith, and I have experienced how rebellious my heart can feel towards God for no reason! I had also been discussing religion some weeks ago, and this isn't always very uplifting. Many things were discussed and I learned some things, but God, and the things of God were missing in all that theology. I could just feel it in my heart. I decided on purpose to not get into a Bible quoting argument, because I wasn't trying to prove anything, I just wanted to understand where this person was coming from, which maybe isn't a good thing to want after all. I don't know my Bible very well, but I know that I feel confident in my walk with God. My confidence is not in me as I know how weak I can be, but in God's love towards me. It's about trusting the Holy Spirit guides us in our walk, and in being able to discern what is and what is not of God. So, I was reading the preface and this is what he says:

"Current evangelicalism has (to change the figure) laid the altar and divided the sacrifice into parts, but now seems satisfied to count the stones and rearrange the pieces with never a care that there is not a sign of fire upon the top of lofty Carmel. But God be thanked that there are a few who care. They are those who, while they love the altar and delight in the sacrifice, are yet unable to reconcile themselves to the continued absence of fire. They desire God above all. They are athirst to taste for themselves the "piercing sweetness" of the love of Christ about Whom all the holy prophets did write and the psalmists did sing."

I think I can apply this to my life. There is this "program", this "order" that I can come up with or get from someone that will make me a better Christian, and I could stick to it and feel "safe", within my well structured and healthy program. And, well... it may or may not be safe, it's better than being indifferent, but will it really really feed me? Will it satisfy me? Will it make me grow?

"For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. 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."

To me it means that knowing God is not all about going through the motions, but about a personal experience, an intimate relationship, and just as any relationship we may have it can grow, improve, be lost, suffer, and so on. I like this, because it's about an interactive God. About a living God. I've always known that He was this way, but I have not always known or understood that it can also concern me, and these times. After going through this little short desert in the last days, I realize that when my soul is quiet and rests in Him, there is no better place to be, even if there is sand blowing in your face, and that we must be careful of all the mirages we may encounter in a desert. The only real oasis is in Him. The book is also online in case you want to read it. It really is a good one. "The Pursuit of God"

"Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." - 2 Corinthians 3:17