Spend the rest of your life chasing Jesus, pursuing closeness with Him, and learning how to follow in His steps.

A little over 17 years ago, Angie and I stood in the altar of a church and vowed to stick together, till death do us part. We were married that day and have the certificate, the rings, and pictures to prove it. That day wasn’t the culmination of our relationship, it was merely the formal beginning of it. We’ve spent our lives, through thick and thin, learning how to be married.

A little over thirty years ago, I trusted Jesus Christ as my Forgiver and Leader. He moved into my life and, through thick and thin, has never left me and never will. But I’ve spent those thirty years learning how to be a Christian. Like marriage, my relationship with Jesus never ceases, but it grows as I continue following Him and learning how to be His disciple. And our relationship stagnates when I choose to go my own way for a moment or for a season.

Paul wrote to the Colossians with a challenge to keep on chasing Jesus. He put it this way, “And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.” (2:6 NLT)

If you have placed your faith solely in Jesus, you’ve already been apprehended by Him. But His desire is that you spend the rest of your life chasing Him, pursuing closeness with Him, and learning how to follow in His steps. There isn’t a contingency in this verse. He isn’t saying, “you must continue to follow Him, or else!” Instead, Paul worded it in such a way that continuing to follow Jesus is simply the assumed result of having made the initial decision to accept Him.

I know that sometimes, God feels out of reach for you. He does with me as well sometimes. I believe His plot is to draw us out further, to get us to keep chasing. Like a Father with a child playing hide-and-seek, He loves to be found by us. So keep on chasing Him today. Keep pursuing intimacy with Him, even in the dry seasons. He’s always there. He never leaves. And He delights to be followed and found again and again.