After thinking about the life-long pursuit of God yesterday, I started thinking about what it means to pursue.
Merriam Webster gives several definitions. The first means to follow to overtake, capture or defeat (negative). The second is to find or employ measures to obtain or accomplish (positive).
The Greek word often translated as pursue in the NT is diṓkō, and it is also a verb that can be used both positively (earnestly pursue) and negatively (hunt down). In each case, it means to pursue with all haste, earnestly desiring to overtake.
What are those things we are to pursue in our Christian Walk? I opened my HCSB concordance and looked up the word ‘pursue’ and found a few verses that I were very interesting.
Twice we are told to pursue peace [Romans14:19, 1 Peter 3:10-12]. We are also to pursue love [1Corinthians 14:1], a promised prize [Philippians 3:14], things that are good for all [1Thessalonians 5:15], righteousness [1 Timothy 6:11], a pure heart [2 Timothy 2:22], and holiness [2 Timothy 2:22 HCSB]. Those are all positive pursuits.
One thing that became apparent to me is that if the Spirit of God commands us to pursue those things, then it is possible to obtain them. PTL