Don’t Run After These Things
On we go through Luke 12, where Jesus now says this: "Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well." (Luke 12:29-31)
Here are some pressing questions that I asked myself after I read that:
Firstly, what is my heart set on? Am I always thinking about what I am going to eat or drink, or what I am next going to get for myself? This goes back to what we spoke of on Tuesday, about storing up the wrong treasures. If my heart is set on my stuff, then I will always be discontent. But if my heart is set on Jesus, and if my relationship with Him comes before all my gadgets, my possessions, my property, and even my basics like my food and clothing - then contentment, and godliness, will be mine.
What Are You Running After?
Secondly, what am I running after? This made me pause. Does my life look like a desperate pursuit of God? After all, that's what it means to run after something, doesn't it - to pursue it. Am I pursuing stuff, and money, or am I pursuing God? The pagan, worldly way, according to Jesus, is to run after the stuff. But the godly way is to seek His kingdom, and find what we need anyway as we seek it.
John Piper, in his fantastic book Reading the Bible Supernaturally wrote this: "Saving faith, by its nature and necessity, teaches us to pursue our satisfaction in God... Saving faith summons everyone to pursue joy in God."
I wonder if you got that. He said that God summons us, or calls us, or encourages us, to pursue joy - and we'll only find it when we seek it in Him!
We used to sing a song back in youth at church in the 2000s, called Running After You, by Planetshakers. It was a fun song, but it was also a pretty radical call to commitment. It went like this:
I don't care what people will say, I'm running after You
I won't turn back and go their way, I'm running after You
Start Running After God
Is that true for you? That you run after God, not things - even if it's weird to other people?
We run after God by earnestly seeking Him in His Word, in prayer, in worship, and in any other way that connects us to Him.
Perhaps today is the day you repent of a half-hearted pursuit of God. Perhaps you have been walking towards God, and only some of the time - other times you walk directly away from Him and His kingdom.
Start running after God! And going hard after Him in deep committed prayer time and more fervent reading of His Word. Seek Him with all your heart, and like so many before you, you will discover peace and joy - and certainly a healing of your anxiety about stuff and cash.
