Monday, August 31, 2015

The Chase





                                                     The Chase



The trash bag almost tripped him up as he walked in the door. Picking it up, he spied a note taped to it. “I don’t love you anymore. I’ve tried to be the wife you expected, but I can’t do it anymore. I’m in love with someone else, he makes me happy. It’s time to take care of my own needs now. It’s over between us.” Peg

Gazing into the bag he saw something that shocked and distressed him. Stuffed into the bag like common trash was a rumpled wedding gown. He pulled it out and held it out in front of him; it was his wife’s lovely gown. Tears ran freely down his face, as he sobbed uncontrollably. Hadn’t he seen this coming? For sometime now warning signs flashed and jingling alarms sounded in his gut. He ignored the forewarnings, never allowing tinges of doubt to stain their marriage.

He slumped to the floor clasping the gown tightly, lace scratching his face, her musky perfume lingered. How could this happen? Hadn’t his love been enough? He did everything for her. Holding out the gown he remembered that wonderful day.

Peggy was a radiant, shining bride. She took his breath away as she walked up the church aisle. He didn’t remember saying any vows; his focus was only on this beautiful princess standing next to him. Her eyes sparkled as he lifted up her veil to kiss her lovely lips. The passion and love glowed from her face and enveloped him. They were soul mates, their love would endure. Somehow it didn’t.

He sensed for months that something wasn’t right between them. There was restlessness in her wandering eyes. She turned away coldly when he tried to draw her close. She was so remote, so indifferent when he shared his heart. She seemed to forgot the fiery passion of first love.

The gown was a white haze through the sheen of tears. How could she do this? She was the desire and delight of his heart. He yearned to embrace her in his arms so tightly that the thud of her heart reverberated through his body. Oh, to gaze into her sky-blue eyes, and see the wonder there.

His grip tightened on the gown. And now the precious, tender intimacies they shared she discarded just like the gown. Jealously surged through him, the spear twisted its blazing tip deeper within. He cast the gown away repulsively.

Should he stand aside uncaring and callous, or go after her? Is restoration even possible? Why should he care? Why pursue someone so faithless, so undeserving? He loathes what she did, yet every fiber of his being aches for her.

A determination mounted from deep within. The chase for her heart is his passion now. He will pursue and captivate her with his gentle, tender love. He won’t stop the reckless chase until he has captured her wandering heart. He looked intently at the gown spread on the floor. Regardless of how she may picture herself, she will always be his radiant bride.

Surely a wild passionate lover as this exists only in soap operas and romance novels. No one would love so recklessly or zealously.

Oh, but there is such a lover. It is the Almighty God, the ardent lover of our souls. 

”This is what the Lord Almighty says, ‘I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealously for her” Zechariah 8:2 NIV

Does this sound like an impersonal, indifferent God? This is a God that knows you so intimately that He keeps an accurate count of your hair, records your tears, and closely covers you like the clothes that enfold your body. He is burning with jealously for you.

He constantly woos us to Himself. Fervor burns in His eyes as His tender, gentle whisper allures, “Arise my darling, my beautiful one, and come away with Me.” Yet we act like a moaning, decrepit widow with cataracts clouding our eyes, hard of hearing, and completely forgetting our fiery passion for Jesus.

We work so hard to wear our Christian camouflage, by saying and doing all the right things. We look like we are in love with Jesus. When in fact we are such faithless, distant lovers attracted to the phony loves of this world. We search elsewhere and wonder at our discontent. Jesus offers a haven of bliss and intimacy like no other. But we rebuff Him time and time again.

We are like a lost coin that a woman grieves over. She lights a candle, searches behind furniture, and in every darkened corner. Grabbing a broom she then carefully sweeps every inch of the earthen floor. What joy rushes over her when she finds the valuable coin and grips it in her hand. Lifting it aloft she rejoices, “I’ve found it! I’ve found it!

How much more will God rejoice when He finally captures our wandering hearts? How can He love someone so faithless, so loveless, and a thousand times rejected Him? How amazing that He would persist in pursuing us! What heart can continue to hold out against this great Lover?

Can the flickering embers be ignited into flaming passion? Can a moaning, decrepit widow transform into a radiant bride?

David, a man who chased after God’s heart, told his son Solomon to “Serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” 1 Chronicles 28:9 NIV

If you are truly seeking after Jesus, He will know it. Like an attentive Lover, He awaits your response to His wooing. He never gives up the chase for your heart. There will come a defining moment when you will find He is the One for you. 

He knows who His burning, passionate lovers are. It is to these lovers He responds, to show Himself, to bless and use mightily. These lovers are content with nothing less than knowing Jesus, and are constantly aware of His sweet presence. 

Have your searches for love and acceptance left you weary and lacking?  Have you forgotten the fiery first love you had for Jesus? Are you cold and distant? Put aside everything and wholeheartedly seek after your Lover. Feel the pulse of His heart as you read His Word. Share you heart in prayer, don’t hold back…He knows you intimately anyway. Your transformation into a radiant bride may not happen overnight. It takes time to cultivate a relationship.

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