Pursued

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16. I have not been in the habit of quoting Scripture for you all in this blog, but I will quote this verse. This is probably the most well known verse in the Bible, and probably the most popular. But what does it mean? Well let me break it down for you, and see if we can disect it enough to get to the pure source of the meaning.

"For God so loved the world...." Stop here for a second. Let's think about this. What is the world? Is it just people? Is it just animals? Is it just plants and rocks? No, it's all of the above and so much more. It's life. Its a cup of coffee with a good friend. It's reading a good book snuggled under a blanket on a rainy day. It's life at its most pure and simple. That's what I believe God is saying that He loves here. Let's move on.

"that He gave His only begotten Son...." What the heck?! He loved the world that much? To give up what should have been considered His most prized possesion? Wow. Soak this knowledge in for just this moment. Do you realize what this means? You and I mean more to God than His own SON!!! What parent would ever give their child up for anyone or anything else? It's ludicrous. And yet God does it with a smile on His face. This is what I am beginning to understand about the gospel, folks. It's wildly absurd and wildly joyous. And Jesus went right along with it, cause He agreed with God that we, us humans, were of the utmost value to both God and Jesus. I digress. Next section.

"that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life." Ok, what are you supposed to believe here? I think, and you are free to disagree, but I think that we have to believe this verse means just what its saying. God loves us enough to send His Son Jesus to die for us to take away our sins. That's it. Just believe, and you will have everlasting life and you won't perish. But what does it mean to perish? Again, this is just a thought, but I think it means to pretty much just throw your life away and to have no meaning. So you can perish while you are still walking around on this planet. You don't have to die to do that.

And in a nutshell, I have just conveyed to you the true gospel. So what's with the title of this post being "Pursued"? Well, I have had a theory for some time that once you make that deal with God, once you make that commitment, and go all in, He takes you seriously as if you really meant it, and He holds you to your end of the bargain. He certainly isn't letting me just do whatever the hell I want.

See, if you are paying attention at all to my blog, you will have noticed that I was very angry with God. I even wrote a post about it. I was ready to wreak havoc on my life, not care a hoot about my reputation or the consequences, and be completely happy doing it. God has stopped me in my tracks. This tells me that He loves me too much to let me do it. Sure I could break loose and still do things, but he has kinda arm wrestled me to the ground long enough to give me pause. He is being very gentle but firm with me, reminding me that I belong to Him. He is bringing out the contractual agreement, showing me where I signed my life away to Him. He is jealous for me, and he is not going to sit by and let this slide.

Folks, I have never felt more loved by God than I do now. He has got me in a bear hug and He just isn't letting me go. It's not like He thought He was going to lose me. But he knew my heart for a moment was ready to turn away from him and run in the other direction. I would have been changed forever, and perhaps not for the good. He is the great pursuer of mankind. I am just one of the easier ones to catch because I already love God so much. I am open to His suggestions. What will you hear if you just open your heart a little bit to Him? He is coming after you, and He will find you, if you let Him. Just more thoughts from the mind of Crystal.

by: Crystal Nylander