Since the Fall in the garden, mankind has been running away from God anytime there is an awareness of sin. But that is not how God wants us to be. He wants us to stop running away from Him but rather run towards Him when we offend Him. Think here about your son for a moment. If he ran away from you every time he disobeyed you, would you ever be able to build a relationship? The answer is negative. So it is with God; we run away each time we disobey and He therefore seems farther and farther away from us.
One evening several years ago, I was celebrating the Holy Communion in the church. I think the Senior pastor was on a trip out of town and there was this man in our midst. He was not a complete stranger, having visited a couple of times but on that night, he refused the elements. I jumped to the conclusion that he could not partake because Holy Communion was being celebrated by a female. Some churches have that doctrine and if that was the case, I was cool with it.
Not until later did I find out why he felt the need to stay away from God and His sacraments. He was living in sin and was consequently running away from God. No doubt he is not the only one; we all have a tendency to try and hide from God each time we disobey. Paradoxically, it is when we sin that we need God most. But because we run away, we never develop an intimate relationship with God, just like our earlier analogy. I can hear God now telling us to stop running away from Him and start running towards Him.
A Child Knows To Stop Running
What happens to your little son when he offends you? He runs towards you, weeping and clinging to you, even soiling your nice shirt with his snot! I imagine that is why Jesus says that we must come to God as little children. He admonishes us to change (or be converted in some versions). In other words, we need to change our attitudes and ways. When we become like that little child, we know to stop running from God. If we don’t, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. And no doubt, you know that to enter the Kingdom of God is the only reason for this blog’s existence.
So, today, make up your mind to stop running from God and two points should help you with that resolution. God is love and loved us so much that He caused His Son to die in our place. Secondly, we all sin and if God were to mark iniquity, none shall stand. Those believers who look as if they have no sin have simply learned to run towards God each time they sin.
Sadly, established religion makes God out to be an angry schoolmaster with a list of “don’ts.” God is not like that at all any more than you are like that to your own biological son. It is only when we stop running away and come with tears and “Abba Father” that a relationship can develop. Please, I beg you, make a determination to come to God, even if it is with tears. Be like the little child and stop running away from your father. That is if He is truly your Father by adoption through Jesus Christ.
Peter Wanted Nothing To Do With Jesus
Peter, Je
sus’ disciple was initially like most of us. You know the account in Luke 5. Jesus had helped them to catch fish where they had previously caught nothing. Peter recognized the awesomeness of God’s glory and fell on his knees. He begged that Jesus should please depart from him. And his reason for such a request? He acknowledged himself as a sinful man.
Can you not imagine that if Peter had not been kneeling down, he would have run away from Jesus? I can and Jesus would have had to tell him to stop running. And that is what He in fact did by giving him his lifelong ministry. He would be a fisher of men. Now, imagine he had been on his feet and had run away. He would never have received that commission from God.
What about you and me? Are we running away from God every time we disobey Him? We should stop running away and start running towards God and His Son. You see, even Peter acknowledged that Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. Don’t let our religious masters make God out to be a gargoyle or monster waiting to punish us. He loves us. Never forget that. You can safely stop running away and come to Him today; He will receive.
Maranatha!
