Pursue Christ with a passion

"Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment." Mark 22:37-38 NIV

"Do you want to do the 50k on Monday instead?" I texted my dear friend Gretchen yesterday, referring to the 31 mile run (the last of the three Navigate Missouri challenges we wanted to complete) she and I planned to do next Thursday while we were both on vacation. "That way," I continued, "our group can join us for part of it or meet us at our aid station." And her reply? "Yeah that sounds awesome!" "Perfect," I then texted back. "Let's plan on Monday then. We are such idiots! LOL" Acknowledging my last statement to be funny but also very true, Gretchen said, "This is why I love us lol. I am running right now and listening to an audio book about Ultrarunning. I am a dork." After I stopped laughing, I texted her back saying, "Of course you are! You don't love running at all!" And you can be sure that Gretchen laughed at that. The truth is... Gretchen loves running and so do I, which is the very reason she and I pursue it with a passion. 

And you know, when it comes to love, the Bible is very clear that you and I are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our minds. And we do this by pursuing Him with a passion that exceeds any of our other pursuits, by constantly focusing our time and energy on doing things that will please Him, and by filling our minds with the Word and with thoughts that will draw us even closer to Him. You see, when you and I truly love God with all that we have, we will run after Him with a fervor and zeal that is unrivaled by anything else in our lives. And it's only when we do this that you and I will fulfill "the first and greatest commandment" and in turn reap the many rewards that come from doing so.

So if you’ve been pursuing something more than God today, take heed my friend. While your pursuit might satisfy you in the short term, it won’t satisfy you for long. You will always find yourself hungry for more... hungry for the fulfillment that only God can provide and that can only be gained by a passionate pursuit for Him. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us so much that You would send your Son to die for us so that we could have eternal life. Cause us to understand and grasp the enormity of this sacrifice Lord so that we would be eternally grateful and passionate about serving and loving You back in return for all that You have done. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!