In hot pursuit

Many of you may know and can put a face with the name Rex Allen. He was a singing cowboy on the silver screen much like Roy Rogers. Those of you who may recall him in those roles and listened to his music may be from an earlier generation. Even though my generation may not be able to recognize his face many of us may know his voice. You see, Rex Allen was a narrator for some of Walt Disney’s wildlife documentaries. Some of those titles included the “Yellowstone Cubs,” “Charlie the Lonesome Cougar,” and the 1963 version of “The Incredible Journey.”

The reason I bring this to mind is because of the pursuit that was played out in some of these movies. You know the scene where the lynx, fox, or other predator is stalking the snowshoe hare or other prey and then the pursuit commences. The predator is hot on the trail and the pursuit is laser focused.

Some of you may have a good cow horse or roping horse that pursues cattle much the same way. It zeroes in on the calf or steer that you are going to rope. You can practically lay the reins on his neck and it will continue to follow and pursue with great intensity.Their expressions say it all with ears pinned, and if close enough, teeth bared.

The apostle Paul knew a little bit about pursuit. He wrote, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NIV)

Paul knew something about pursuit but what about me and you? Are we focused on a pursuit of Jesus Christ? Do we follow hard after God with laser like focus? We will pursue a career, money, status, and “likes” on social media but we fall short in our pursuit of Christ. What would and could change in your life if your focused pursuit switched from (fill in the blank) to a following hard after Him; a pursuit of God?

Sadly, we see this in our country as well. We have lost focus on the pursuit of Jesus Christ. We have become a people and country that are in pursuit of selfish ends and focused on our “selfie” world. A country where a motto like, “Let’s do whatever makes us feel good and happy in our emotions,” is the norm. We are a country and people that looks to the government instead of God for it’s supply, provision and livelihood. Likewise, if we pursued Christ as a country and as His people what could and would change?

I will leave with this: “The Lord detests the way of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue righteousness.” (Proverbs 15:9 NIV) Let’s be personally and as a country pursuing Jesus Christ and righteousness through Him!

I’ll see ya’ll out in the pasture!