The pursuit of the Father

God is love. This is a popular saying irrespective of the circle you find yourself in: Christian or secular. However, as popular as that statement is, it does not negate the fact that it is also the most misunderstood statement about God. The bible tells us that God is love, which means the very definition of love is Him, the essence of what love is is found and expressed in God. The loving character of God is detailed throughout the bible, chapter after chapter. I was reading the book of Songs of Songs in parallel with the book of John and I couldn’t help but see a similarity between the love of God displayed in His pursuit for the human race and the love that is expressed in the Song of Songs by the two lovers. My goal today is to get us to ponder again on the love of God that drives His pursuit towards men.

The bible as a whole has been often referred to as a love letter. It is a love letter from the Father to his disobedient children. In every book, we see a Father that relentlessly goes after a stubborn people, a stubborn nation in order to woe them to Him. One of the greatest examples of this great love shown to us is in Him sending us His One and only Son Jesus to be a sacrifice on our behalf. He did this while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). I don’t know if you are able to grasp this but God’s love did not wait for you to be right with Him, it didn’t depend on you to do anything, He loved us when we were still rejecting Him. What amazes me more about this love is how passionate it is. I believe no one can pursue like God does. His pursuit is wholehearted, it is vehement, it is strong. By dying on the cross, Jesus ensured that our right standing with God was restored which meant we could now have a relationship with the Father again. With a restored relationship, we were given a new spirit, the Holy Spirit who would teach us new ways of life. We were completely changed yet, God made this in such a way that we still had to respond to his beckoning. You see, every day, Jesus stands at the door like He says in Revelation and he knocks hoping you will open your heart to him (Revelation 3:20). Although he has gone to great lengths to restore our relationship with God and give us a new life, he does not force that love on us but he gently beckons us to come to him. Just as in Proverbs it says wisdom calls out in the streets, this is how Jesus calls out in the streets of our hearts every day. The depth of his love is way too profound. I don’t know if you are able to realize this but Jesus is pursuing a bride that does not love him yet fully and he has made everything ready for the day the bride will accept him fully. That is just incredible! Jesus’ love truly does not give up on us. There are many examples in the bible of how far the Father will go but allow me to look at the one from John 4 where Jesus met with the Samaritan woman. This is a meeting that did not need to happen, Jesus did not have to go through Samaria to journey where he was headed but he chose to go through Samaria. In fact, the ESV version of that text plainly says that “he had to go pass through Samaria” (John 4:4). What was the urgency, one might ask? We know that the reason he went there was because of the salvation of that Samaritan woman (and subsequently the Samaritans) who desperately needed a saviour. Jesus endured being called names for our sake, he endured scorn, shame, excruciating pain, he sacrificed much for our sake and he did it with so much joy! Indeed, we love him because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). What I find incredible with the pursuit of the Father is that, before pursuing us, he ensured everything was set right. He ensured the death of Jesus was done, he ensured all accusations that stood against us were cancelled (Colossians 2:14-15), he ensured a new spirit was given to us along with every spiritual blessings, he ensured we would have no obstacle to entering into the new love he was offering us. Talk about faith! Yet, he did all this knowing that some would not accept his love (Matthew 22:1-14) and regardless of it his pursuit for them is still the same. This humbles me and causes me to rejoice and to love him even more because I know he is the real deal! Real love is sacrificial and truly it is freeing, both parties have to want it. Hence, Jesus waits for his bride at the end when she will be revealed and fully in alignment with him. It is going to be a sight to behold!

The book of Song of Songs depicts a type of the love and pursuit we see in the Father for us. It is a book that is about love and particularly between a lover and his beloved. We understand those two to be a husband and a wife. What is intriguing to me in this book is the passion that comes out of it as well as the pursuit. Indeed, we see the lover being enthralled by the love and beauty of his beloved. Moreover, the lover pursues his beloved, he wants to be with her, he longs for her and this is reciprocated by the beloved. There is a unity in their passion for one another that is remarkable. This love is so strong that Solomon cautions us in the book to “not arouse or awaken love until it so desires” (Song of Songs: 2:7). It is with a similar passion that God pursued us. It might be hard for you to believe this but the truth is, God’s love for us had nothing to do with us. God’s pursuit and passion towards man has nothing to do with man but rather everything to do with who God is. This is what it means to love, this is the character of God. Our own concept of love is very skewed and we have only tainted what the Father has made beautiful by our pride. How the Father is able to leave the ninety nine for the one missing sheep is beyond me! How the Father is able to receive a son that has squandered everything given to him, despised Him and more is beyond me but then again that is our Father and I am forever grateful to Him for this love so undeserved. Hallelujah!