Three Truths for Your Pursuit of God (Students)

God promises that those who make a genuine commitment to pursue him will find him (Jeremiah 29:13). Do you believe that? Do you think it could be true for you? Take a quick personal survey as we get started in this series: do you feel close to God or far from him? Where would you put yourself on the journey? 

Here’s the great news: wherever you are, God is not far away! And this book has something for you, whether you’ve gone to church your whole life or whether you’re brand new to the Bible. 

Let’s start with a birds-eye view of what God is like. Many people think he’s harsh, judgmental, aloof. But the Bible paints a different picture of God. In this lesson we’ll look at three things you need to know about the heart of God, and the good news it reveals about pursuing him. 

God Is For You

Everyone knows what rejection feels like. It’s terrible. Maybe you’ve been rejected by a friend, a spouse, or even a parent. You’ve tried to win their approval or ask for forgiveness, but nothing has worked. And so the sense of rejection grows even more depressing and hopeless. Some people perceive a relationship with God that way. For whatever reason, they feel unworthy or unlovable, or just plain irreligious. For them, God is out of reach.

But Jesus shows us the truth: God is for you, not against you. Through his life and teachings, Jesus shocked the religious world with his attitude toward the lost and irreligious. He invited lowly fishermen and despised tax-collectors – not religious experts – to be in his inner circle. And then he went around rubbing shoulders with drunkards, healing the demon-possessed, and touching the untouchables. Jesus didn’t avoid the broken and the lost, he sought them out. Here’s a perfect example:

Matthew 8:2-3 Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

A couple of things jump out in this passage. First, the leper knew that Jesus had the ability to heal – he just didn’t know if he had the willingness to do it. For most people, it’s easier to believe that God is powerful than to believe that he is good. But here’s the truth: he is both! God’s good enough to care about our everyday lives, and he’s powerful enough to do something about it. He’s not just able to help us; he’s willing!

And consider how Jesus healed the leper: he touched him. That was unthinkable in Jesus’ day. Leprosy was highly contagious, and Jesus was risking infection by reaching out. Certainly he could have just spoken the word of healing, as he had done so many times before. But Jesus wanted to prove a point about God: he cares personally about people, and he’s not afraid of their condition. The healing power of Jesus was more contagious than any disease, and so the leper was healed.

But it’s not just the broken and the desperate who can benefit from a pursuit of God. Jesus wants a relationship with anyone who’s willing to recognize their need for him:

Mark 2:17 I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.

Here’s the great irony of religion: the ones who look the most religious are usually the furthest from God. Jesus has nothing to offer to self-righteous people because, from their perspective, they have no need of a savior. What about you? Do you need God’s help? He’s willing to give it. God is for you, not against you.

Life to the Full

God’s heart for you puts a whole new kind of life on offer, and Jesus called it “life to the full.” It’s the secret to deep friendships, healthy emotions, meaningful work, and joyful connection with God. It’s an offer that promises to impact both your everyday life and your eternal destiny. Jesus is working for it while his enemy, the devil, is working against it. Here’s how Jesus said it:

John 10:10 (NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 

We have a simple picture for this “full life” vision, and we call it going “full circle” in your faith. It provides the framework for this book, and it looks like this:

The first arrow represents how we start a relationship with God, and it’s simply by trusting Jesus (Romans 3:22). Faith changes our standing with God in an instant, offering the promise of eternal life. We’ll cover this in chapters 4-6 of this book. 

The second arrow represents what happens after we come to faith in Jesus. A new desire to honor God is birthed within us – which becomes an external reality over time as we are transformed from the inside out (2 Corinthians 5:17). We’ll cover this in chapters 7-9 of this book.

The third arrow represents the thing that most Christians neglect to do: start making disciples. Life to the full isn’t complete until we go “full circle” and help someone else pursue God (Matthew 28:19). We’ll cover this in the final chapter of this book.

Hide and Seek

So a pursuit of God can change everything for you, but it turns out the pursuit isn’t just up to you. There’s a power at work behind the scenes who is far stronger than your best efforts or noblest intentions. The truth is, before you even thought about pursuing God, he was pursuing you. This is what King David learned in the Old Testament, and he wrote about it in one of his psalms:  

Psalm 139:16 (NLT) You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

David had a complicated story. He was the almost-forgotten shepherd boy who grew up to be a king. Along the way he fought battles, gained fame, and experienced tragedy. Psalm 139 was probably penned by David as an older man, someone who had seen it all and was just now starting to make sense of life. David was learning that God had been there all along, through the ups and downs of life. God was fully invested in David’s story – even before his story began. 

And the same is true for your story, even if you can’t see it yet. God saw you before you were born. In fact, your existence was his idea. And every moment was laid out for you before a single day had passed – even this moment. 

Some people imagine that God is playing a cruel game of hide and seek with humanity. The Bible is a massive book. Churches are intimidating. God seems so complicated. In the midst of the confusion, God makes a simple promise: 

Jeremiah 29:13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

God is not some far-away, uninterested deity. He wants to be found by you – and he has been working since the beginning of time to make it happen. God made the first move; the next move is up to you.

So what’s your role in all of this? What does God require of you? For now, just be genuine in your pursuit. Put aside your preconceived notions and come to God with an open mind and a willingness to learn. And then open the Bible, because that’s the place where we learn about Jesus.