The Five Star Meal People Never Eat
Hello friends and family!
We have just completed our third week of CSOM, and I have so many things I can’t wait to share!
This past week was very busy! We had four outreaches!!! Throughout the week, I was part of skits for the children, face painting, making bracelets, serving food, and inviting people to join us for all the activities, which you can see in the pictures below!
The skit we did at La Mina
La Mina Outreach Group Photo
Church Plant Outreach and lunch with Rancho Santa Cruz Church
Alongside the outreaches, we spent the entire week reading a book called The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. In this book, Tozer starts by saying that the real pursuit of God originates from God Himself, based on this scripture:
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:44 KJV
In response to His drawing, the only reasonable thing to do is for man to pursue God. So why in our world today does the pursuit of God end when we say the “sinners’ prayer”? Nowhere in the New Testament do we see that the life of the believer pursuing God ends at conversion; rather, we see it only begin at conversion. That’d be like going to a five-star restaurant and refusing to eat. To put it into real life prospective when Saul saw Jesus, regained his sight, and was filled with the Holy Spirit, his pursuit of God began. He didn’t just continue murdering Christians; his life totally changed as a product of his pursuit of God. So what has changed since? Tozer believes that the “doctrine of justification by faith,” instead of encouraging the believer to strive to know more about God, has served to “bar men from the knowledge of God” (Tozer, pg.2). Instead of desiring God, we’re content with little we know of Him. Instead of seeing God as someone we can know intimately, we lose Him amid the wonders of His word. We often miss that at the heart of the gospel is a God waiting for His children to not just wait for heaven to be with Him, but to pursue a life with Him now. Even in the Old Testament, God’s presence was the heart of the tabernacle, and that without it, all of the Levitical rituals have no real meaning. Without God and His presence, the Jews were just normal people; it was Yahweh that made them distinct. Similarly, all the things we do in the name of Christ without His presence make no real sense!
Tozer goes on to explain throughout the rest of the book what the pursuit of God looks like practically. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil the book for you, but I went away from the book with many practical tools on how to intentionally and consistently pursue God even in the mundane tasks, and seek to pursue Him at a deeper level.
I want to end my update by requesting something from you all. I don’t want to leave this experience with just an aftertaste of all the deep, profound truths I’ve been learning. I want these truths to take deep root into my heart and mind, so that they might keep me from being apathetic and from having a myriad of desires without the will to carry them out. My desire would be for them to be fresh on my heart for as long as I’m able to bring glory to God in this body.
So I’m requesting that you all would pray that the Lord would keep me from apathy and that these truths that He has taught me would take root in my heart! God bless you all; I’m so thankful for all of your prayers and support! The fact that I’m able to come to this conclusion at all is the fruit of your prayers! Thank you all again; God bless you!
With much love,
Abby
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