Ralph Kramden, the loveable oaf portrayed on television by Jackie Gleason in the 1950s, found it easy to put his foot in his mouth. When asked why he didn’t treat Alice, his wife, in the same romantic way he did before they were married, he replied, “Why keep running after you catch the bus?” His misguided philosophy not only illustrates what is all too often the case in marriages, it also has found a place in the relationships that some Christians have with God. The tragedy is, that whether in marriage or in Christianity, giving up the pursuit weakens the relationship.
Four times in the sacred text it is said of Moses that he encountered God “face to face” (Exo. 33:11; Num. 12:8; Deut. 5:4; 34:10). Can you imagine how satisfying it must have been for Moses to be closer to God than anyone else (Deut. 34:10)? One might be tempted to think that Moses would rest in that satisfaction thinking that it could get no better. To borrow from the example above, Moses had “caught the bus.” Why keep running? It seems that the closer Moses became to God, the more he pursued Him. In Exodus 33:18, having already experienced “face to face” communication with God (33:11), Moses requested more. “Please, show me Your glory,” he asked.
Not only do we live beneath our privileges, but we actually weaken our relationship with God when we stop seeking Him because we know that, at least in some sense, we have already found Him. Nothing compares to knowing God, not human wisdom, power, or wealth (Jer. 9:23-24). Let not the fact that you have pursued and found Him before keep you from pursuing Him still. Seek Him today. Then seek Him again.
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