The Treasures in Christ

In writing to the Colossians 2, Paul warns them of the dangers of putting their hope and desires in anything besides Christ:

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and
united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding,
in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are
hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one
may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.

We live in a day in which we are bombarded with consumer marketing. Sometimes it seems that everything is marketing, every voice and everything you see is oriented towards promoting some product, and by trying to birth desire in you to find fulfillment and satisfaction in that product and/or lifestyle. (So the message is also trying to rob you of contentment...)

Along with the constant marketing, the world is also constantly trying to give us an accompanying philosophy of life. Sometimes it can be dressed up and sound intriguing and appealing. In this passage, these are described as "fine-sounding arguments" for truth and reality. They look good, feel good, but ultimately ring untrue. Why?

Because of what we read above, that in Christ "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." ALL of them. All wisdom. All knowledge. Sometimes people claiming to follow Christ come out promoting a message of Christ AND. Christ AND money, or Christ AND zen, or Christ AND anything else. Sometimes it sounds wise or deep or cool. But it is hollow and false, because in Christ ALL the treasures and wisdom are found. There is no deeper mystery than that. Anything else is just a clever-sounding argument that deceives - it leads you away from Christ.

Where do you seek for wisdom? Where do you seek for meaning? Where do you seek for satisfaction? Look only to Christ and you will find it.

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Deuteronomy 29:29

Deuteronomy 29 concludes with a very interesting verse that is both humbling and helpful:

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

This is a humbling truth because it reminds us in no uncertain terms that we do not and can not know everything. There are things that will remain hidden from us. This can be difficult to bear. It is difficult for those who just like to have a neat and clear explanation for everything. It is perhaps most difficult for those who grapple with suffering and tragedy.

Yet this is also a helpful and hopeful truth. And it is never more helpful and hopeful than in the face of suffering. We may never know why something happened, but we know that God does in fact know. These things "belong to God." They are not the result of chaos or chance in the universe, but are part of a grand mysterious plan in the mind of God that is currently invisible to us.

We cannot know everything, but we can know the One who does know. We can pursue what He has graciously revealed to us, and trust Him with the rest.

Tozer on Prayer

AW Tozer is such a rich source of wisdom:

"Juliana of Norwich at the beginning of her wonderful Christian life addressed a prayer to her Savior and then added the wise words, "'And this I ask without any condition.'"

"It was that last sentence that gave power to the rest of her prayer and brought the answer in mighty poured-out floods as the years went by. God could answer her prayer because He did not need to mince matters with her. She did not hedge her prayers around with disclaimers and provisos. She wanted certain things from God at any cost. God, as it were, had only to send her the bill. She would pay any price to get what she conceived to be good for her soul and glorifying to her Heavenly Father. That is real praying.

"Many of us spoil our prayers by being too "dainty" with the Lord (as some old writer called it). We ask with the tacit understanding that the cost must be reasonable. After all, there is a limit to everything, and we do not want to be fanatical! We want the answer to be something added, not something taken away. We want nothing radical or out of the ordinary, and we want God to accommodate us at our convenience. Thus we attach a rider to every prayer, making it impossible for God to answer it."

From: We Travel an Appointed Way Chapter #17

More Psalm 138

Today we may as well finish Psalm 138 by concentrating on verse 8:

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD , endures forever-
do not abandon the works of your hands.

This verse is a great source of encouragement and confidence when we are facing times of struggle and/or when we are in need of guidance. It's amazing to just get your mind around the fact that God does have a purpose for you in Christ. You are not an accident! The naturalists would have you believe that you are basically a really cool amalgamation of biological mass that happened to come together as a result of chance.... which would leave you without any hope or any purpose at all. God says here that He has a purpose for you. (Read the very next Psalm to learn more about your origin!).

Not only does God have a purpose for you, it WILL come to pass. Nothing can stop it. It doesn't rely on what you do or don't do (though clearly we're called to pursue Him in obedience). Ultimately it rests on the good grace of God.... His love which "endures forever." Romans 8 reminds us that NOTHING can separate us from God's love in Christ.

The amazing thing about Psalm 138 is that it seems to be written in a time of turmoil, confusion, struggle, uncertainty. In the midst of these trials the writer worships God (see yesterday) and concludes on a note of assurance that God's purpose will be worked out. When times are rough and you face uncertainty and struggle, do you worship God confidently and trust that His purposes are at work? Do you thank Him for being a God who redeems the hard times and uses them to fulfill His greater purposes in your life? Do you meditate on the fact that YOU are the work of HIS hands?!?

It seems that a key concept here is perspective. It takes an eternal perspective to rest in God and trust Him to work when the situation is bleak. If you are focused only on today, only on what you can see right in front of you, it is easy to miss and easy to doubt. When we fix our eyes on God's eternal purpose, we can say respond to trials by trusting in God's love and purpose. We can have confidence that, in Christ, He has promised not to abandon the work of His hands.

What is exalted

Today let's take just a moment to reflect on the opening of Psalm 138:

I will praise you, O LORD , with all my heart;
before the "gods" I will sing your praise.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.

Today I'm struck by the idea that God has exalted above all things His Name and His Word. That's what matters most to God, that is what He calls us to similarly treasure and uphold in our lives. Why? Because everything else pales in comparison to the holiness and grandeur and glory of God.

What have you exalted above all things in your life? Relationships, money, sports, arts, school, family, career.... all good things, but all things that can often distract us from what is best. How do you know what is exalted most in your life? My suggestion is that we measure this not necessarily by what we say, but by what we do, where our thoughts dwell, that kind of thing. The Psalmist says he will praise God, even in the presence of idols, that he will bow down towards God. (Bowing down, as you know, represents humility and submission.... we don't like to submit.)

Do you exalt God above all things? Do you exalt His Word by giving time to it and submitting to it? Do you exalt God in your life even in the midst of distractions and even opposition? Do you exalt His name in your relationships, at work, at school, in your family? What would it look like if we did?

The Blind Man's Response

Let's just finish out Mark 10. We just saw the selfish motives that James and John had in their approach to Jesus. The very next passage describes another man's encounter with and request of Jesus:

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."
"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

The blind man got it. James and John, who had been traveling with Jesus and hearing him teach for a long time, missed it. He shows us a model of prayer and response.

First, he calls out to Jesus, recognizing His lordship (the reference to "Son of David.") Along similar lines, he simply is asking for mercy (recognizing he is in need of mercy). And he is persistent, even when he is mocked and rebuked by others (no doubt more "religious" and knowledgeable than he.)

Do your prayers reflect this same sense of dependence? Where James and John had acted in a presumptious manner, this guy humbled himself. He didn't ask for prominence; just for mercy. And that's exactly what he got. Are you persistent in prayer?

Finally, look at what happens at the end. Jesus tells him to go on his way. Which way does he go? He follows Jesus.

Continuing in Mark 10

Yesterday we saw the selfish nature of James and John's request to Jesus - that they be given the places of prominence in the kingdom. We pondered the fact that, many times, our own prayers reflect the same kind of selfish agenda.

The point of the story, however, is to show that such an attitude is completely upside down. For one thing, it totally disrupts the sense of community that was shared among Jesus' followers. They were indignant - for good reason! A rivalry was brewing, so Jesus turned the tables:

Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

There, in a nutshell, is one of the keys to kingdom living. James and John were looking out for themselves and trying to build their own kingdoms. I tend to think that the indignation of the other disciples was similarly motivated. Jesus, however, says that the essence of His kingdom is in serving others. It is all about self-denial, not self-aggrandizement. And obviously Jesus set the tone. He said these things in the midst of His journey to Jerusalem, where He knew a gruesome death awaited Him.

If the disciples can so totally miss this point, I think it is safe to say that we can too. Are you building your own kingdom or participating in Christ's kingdom? Do you serve others or try to manipulate them to your own end?

Today, let's examine our hearts, our prayers, and our actions and see which kingdom we're building.

On Prayer and Mark 10

The content of your prayers probably reveals what's in your heart. In Mark 10:35, James and John ask Jesus a very telling question:

"Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."

Reading that verse, I was struck with how much that probably resembles our own attitudes to prayer. We may be more flowery in our language or pious in our tone, but if we cut to the core of what our prayers are about, I wonder how often they boil down to, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."

Obviously, what they ask is all about them:

"'What do you want me to do for you?'" he asked. They replied, "'Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.'"

By this point, James and John had been with Jesus day in and day out for a very long time. They were not only disciples, but part of his inner circle. And yet they just didn't get it. They were still looking out for themselves. They wanted to use Jesus to get their own glory. It's crazy, but perhaps we should look in the mirror and see if we aren't doing the exact same thing.

Do you treat God like your own cosmic vending machine? Punch in the goodie you want and wait for it to pop out. Do you treat God like Santa Claus? I want one of these, one of these, etc. These are self-centered prayers. It's all so clear and obvious as we read about James and John in this conversation with Jesus. Their request seems so selfish and audacious. But dig inside your own heart a little bit, listen to your prayers, and see how much of that attitude is present. It's all about ME.

Let's not be self-centered pray-ers.

Tozer on Worship

Today I want to leave a thought from AW Tozer, one of the great preachers of the first half of the twentieth century:

"It remains only to be said that worship as we have described it here is almost (though, thank God, not quite) a forgotten art in our day. For whatever we can say of modern Bible-believing Christians, it can hardly be denied that we are not remarkable for our spirit of worship. The gospel as preached by good men in our times may save souls, but it does not create worshipers.

Our meetings are characterized by cordiality, humor, affability, zeal and high animal spirits; but hardly anywhere do we find gatherings marked by the overshadowing presence of God. We manage to get along on correct doctrine, fast tunes, pleasing personalities and religious
amusements.

How few, how pitifully few are the enraptured souls who languish for love of Christ...."

The Beginning

Welcome to The Great Pursuit. Our intention here is to journey together in a common pursuit of God, the greatest calling and pursuit of this life. That's what we're made for, to know God and enjoy relationship with Him. Our ability to know God is destroyed by our rebellion against Him, by our choosing to walk our own way instead of His way. That relationship is re-established when we surrender to the call to follow Christ as our Master, to walk in His way in relationship with Him.

Having reconnected with our Creator through Christ, life becomes a journey deeper into the riches of God's grace. The Bible describes this journey in terms of taking off the old self and putting on the new, created to be like Christ in true righteousness and holiness.(See Ephesians 4:20-24).

The Great Pursuit Blog exists to help you do just that. Our desire is to serve as a resource and aid in your own pursuit of God, in your daily struggle to kill sin and walk in truth and life. The content will largely consist of meditations on Scripture and godly living, with occassional writing on specific aspects of the Christian life and worldview.

Please feel free to post comments and questions and responses.