It's hunting season!

In Colorado the change of seasons brings with it the knowledge of many that the big game hunting season is here.  To be able to hunt elk, moose, and deer in September-December, the hunter must start his decision making process back in February!  He must determine where he and his hunting companions (hunting is always more fun with amigos) will hunt in the state.  Then they must apply for their hunting "tags" that tell all when, where and what the hunters are hunting.  Successful hunting takes tremendous commitment and dedication to the art/sport.  All of this that I've described are just the logistics of location and getting tags.  It doesn't speak to the equipment, the woodsmen knowledge, the knowledge of the specific big game habits/habitations, the commitment of time and money to taking time off work and from family.  Hunting is hard work & if you want to be successful--you must be committed to the goal; bring home some food for the freezer.  I have a close friend, Boston, who hunts extensively each year because it is a SIGNIFICANT portion of his eating for the next nine months.  If you read between the lines correctly you'll read "No meat; no eat" in that statement.  Do you think Boston is committed to successful hunting?  You darn tootin!

So--you might ask, "Phil--that is kinda cool--but what does this have to do with Jesus?"

Good question. 

I read this by A.W. Tozer in his classic and wonderfully compelling book "Pursuit of God"

"How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers.  Everything is made to center upon the initial act of "accepting" Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the bible) and we are not expected there-after to crave any further revelation of God to our souls.  We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him, we need no more seek Him….The experiential heart theology of a grand army of fragrant saints is rejected in favor of a smug interpretation of scripture which would certainly have sounded strange to an Augustine, a Rutherford or a Brainerd.

The still and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire.  Complacency is a deadly foe for all spiritual growth.  Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people.  He wants to be wanted.  Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain.

The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile limitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all."

HUNT FOR ME!!  HUNT FOR ME!!!  HUNT FOR ME!!!

If we'll be honest most of us would never consider that God, Yahw*h God would say these words.  We have been lured into thinking that tells us that going to church a couple of times a week and gathering in a group on some regularity is what Jesus is seeking from us.  Loyalty and fidelity.  Stability and theological accuracy.  We have been taught that these are MOST IMPORTANT in our walk with Him.

Is it?

Here is a good resource for you: http://www.seekgod.org/bible/godsinvitation.html

Praying for you--as I go hunting!

Philly