Ages ago I worked at the Radio Shack in the local mall. During that time I noticed is that there were two basic types of shoppers. The first slowly ambled about the store, perusing the various items and sales. The second type made a beeline to what they were hunting for, oblivious to the other distractions in their path. Each had a different response to the “may I help you” question. The first would invariably answer – “Just looking.” The second would respond with, “nope, got it” or “I need a headphone extension with a ¼ inch plug and a ⅛ inch jack” or something similar. Basically, one is a peruser and the other a pursuer. Amazing how close and yet how different those two words are.
People approach their walk with Jesus in the same two ways. The first is perusing the Christian walk, kind of wandering the aisles to see what may catch their eye. Observers of faith instead of being participants of faith. The second is pursuing the Christian walk. They know what they need and what they are striving to obtain. These folks are actively running after Jesus, choosing to focus on Him. These pursuers have taken to heart verses like:
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“So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” (Romans 14:19, NASB95)
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“Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” (1 Corinthians 14:1, NASB95)
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“But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.” (1 Timothy 6:11, NASB95)
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“Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22, NASB95)
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“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14, NASB95)
So, which are you? One that is perusing the faith? There is a season in our walk when that is ok. Many folks have ambled around the aisles of faith “just looking” before they took the plunge to pursue Christ. Some, however, seem to get stuck “just looking” and never make the commitment to follow Christ with their whole being. To those perusing faith – screw your courage to the sticking place, lay aside the sin that hinders, and set your heart on knowing Jesus Christ. If you are already pursuing I challenge you to check yourself, many have been sidetracked from pursuing Christ by a distracting rabbit trail. For instance, confusing being busy with making progress in their pursuit. In other words, are you pursuing the right things? Condensing the verses from above: continually pursue peace, building up one another, love, righteousness, godliness, faith, perseverance, gentleness, and sanctification. Or to make it simpler – Pursue Jesus Christ.
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