Let me begin by saying that we are incapable of fully grasping the character and nature of God. But, I do want to attempt to explain something.
I think we are losing the weight of God's relentless pursuit of us by overly communicating it AND not properly defining the words to describe His pursuit. I'll explain.
I recently got this thought that I think we treat God like He's a clingy boyfriend. Because we over-communicate the truth---and yes it is the truth---of how much He loves us. We say so often things like:
He is jealous for me. He's longing for my affection. He's desperately chasing after me. He's not mad at me, but He's madly in love with me. Oh how He loves me. He loves me so much that He sent His son to die for me. He's longing for a relationship with me. He's always searching for me. He's showing up at my job in conversation. He's always near me. He always want to talk to me. He's always available. He's always on time. Whooo!!
Sounds like God is really feeling me huh?
And how will our sinful and prideful hearts have the tendency to respond? We puff up and just act like we don't have to respond at all to this clinginess. Now here's an undershot at women to better explain this. Women have the tendency to be highly inconsistent with their "clingy" tagging of men. Now I know there is a line that some men cross, but I have known guys who are genuinely showing interest in a girl and have been called clingy. Why? Because the girl wasn't responsive to his kind of interest. Or, the girl didn't see any value or didn't have any interest in getting to know the guy. Because here's what I can bet my entire savings account on.
Let's create a scenario If you are a girl and have called a guy clingy, or vice versa, whatever. Take the same situation, the same gestures, the same attention, the same pursuit, and let a guy who you're attracted to and want and desire do the same things and you will melt in his arms. Am I right?
That happens because you have a value and interest in the guy already. And we won't even get into why you're probably interested anyway, that's another blog for another day. But check this out.
Isaiah 6:1-4 tells us, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory". And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke."
Think about the majesty of God. See the reverence in this passage? When you're looking at storm clouds and a fear enters deep into your soul. What is that? Or the idea of something creating something by just speaking. Not yelling. Not working hard on, but speaking the entire Earth into existence and filling it up just by speaking. Think about a glory so mighty that this seraphim has to cover his eyes and feet because he can't stand to see the face of God or to even walk on the same ground as God. The creator of volcanoes and hurricanes. The creator of the Grand Canyon and Mount Everest. The creator of the vast oceans. The solar system, created by God. All the stars, He's naming and numbering them.
That's the God that's after you.
And let's not lose the weight of that. I hope your chest is getting tight at the idea of this kind of God is after you. And we need to try to get the character of God straight and not see Him as this clingy, jealous, insecure, lacking, bored, sissified, "don't have anything better to do so I'll create some rebellious greedy humans" kind of God. And start seeing Him as a commanding presence worth glorifying with our lives. A presence that's demanding love and worship. He's not forcing, but He is commanding us to love and worship Him. I'll help you with that.
Imagine you walking into a store with your mother, and you walk up to another woman and start praising her as if she was your mother. Your mother will get angry. Why? Because that's her glory that you're giving to someone else. Your mom will probably say something like, "After I've carried you in my womb for 9 months and dealt with that painful birth and changed those diapers and spent countless hours awake with you and...the list goes on".
That's the kind of jealousy God carries for us. It's not out of some insecurity or loneliness. He's God. By definition that means He's self sufficient, self sustaining, without need, perfect. If we completed God with our love then He wouldn't be God because He wouldn't be perfect. His pursuit of us is to bring His name glory. His pursuit and love and passion for us is for His name sake. Not because you're awesome, but because He's awesome and He wants His creation to give Him what He deserves.
Don't get offended by that. Because this understanding with help you encounter more of the fullness of God. You understanding His glory will help you understand His worthiness. God is not clingy. He's after His name to be glorified by you, sinful wretched man. And how does He get it from people like us? He restores and redeems us with His love and mercy. And when you begin to understand that God can do whatever He wants, the fact that He chose to love and have mercy on you will tear your heart apart and you'll fall more in love with Him. So that relentless pursuit, even though it's motivated by Him getting His glory, is His display of faithfulness to His creation. He wants relationship because He's thinking, "That's how they'll worship me how they should...when they know me. They'll love me like they should when they know me. They'll obey me like they should when they know me."
My friends. Let's ease closer to enjoying the fullness of God. Understanding His character drives you deeper into your worship of Him. Realizing His value greatly melts your heart when you realize that out of all the things He could be doing that's much cooler than me, He's choosing to deal with me on a personal level. That's the God that wants to know you. He's a commanding presence. You want that in your life. Trust me.
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