The Great Dichotomy
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?”– Luke 15:4 NKJV
“And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.”– Luke 15:13 NKJV
The same passage of Scripture gives us two very different pictures. In the first, the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to go after the one. Just a few verses later, the father watches his son walk away and does not chase after him. Why?
In salvation, God pursues us. In discipleship, we pursue Him.
I get concerned about a generation that always wants to be chased and pursued. Maybe it’s the songs we’ve sung and the weak theology they sometimes carry. Or maybe, in our desire to make the gospel sound palatable, we’ve neglected to teach that it is both, and not just one or the other.
One was lost. The other walked away. There is a big difference between a sheep that gets lost and a son who chooses to leave. Yet the heart of the shepherd and the heart of the father were the same.
The father knew his son could stay home physically but never truly give him his heart. To gain his son’s heart, he had to let him go on the journey. And in the end, when the son returned home, his heart returned as well.
“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.” – Luke 15:20 NLT
Everyone wants to be wanted. We all long to be desired, to belong, and to matter. Those are deep desires in the human heart, and there’s nothing wrong with them—unless we let them drive us into unhealthy pursuits.
The real danger comes when we move from wanting to be wanted, to needing to be needed. In that place, life begins to revolve around us. Our story becomes the center of the narrative, and even faith can quietly shift from Jesus-centered to me and Jesus-centered. I’ve taught this without even realizing it. Many of us have.
Here’s a hard truth: God wants me, but He doesn’t need me.
You might ask, “But Aaron, what if He stops wanting me? What if I do something wrong and He no longer desires me?”
That’s a valid question. And the answer is this: He will never stop desiring you. He made up His mind about you before you were born. He already chose to forgive your sins—past, present, and future. There is nothing you can do that hasn’t already been covered by the blood of Jesus.
In fact, His love is so deep that He allows you to choose what you will pursue. You were once dead in sin, without choice, and God pursued you, saved you, and rescued you from slavery to sin and self. In salvation, God pursued us. Now, in discipleship, we get the joy of pursuing Him.
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.’” – Matthew 16:24-25 NLT
What a passage. What a life.
God pursued us in salvation; now, as His children, we have the joy of pursuing Him in discipleship.
Prayer:
Father, thank You for never giving up on me. Thank You that Your love is steadfast, constant, and unconditional. Help me not only to rest in the truth that You pursued me, but also to live daily in pursuit of You. Give me a heart that longs for Your presence, a will surrendered to Your ways, and faith to follow You wherever You lead. In Jesus’ name, amen.
“And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.”– Luke 15:13 NKJV
The same passage of Scripture gives us two very different pictures. In the first, the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to go after the one. Just a few verses later, the father watches his son walk away and does not chase after him. Why?
In salvation, God pursues us. In discipleship, we pursue Him.
I get concerned about a generation that always wants to be chased and pursued. Maybe it’s the songs we’ve sung and the weak theology they sometimes carry. Or maybe, in our desire to make the gospel sound palatable, we’ve neglected to teach that it is both, and not just one or the other.
One was lost. The other walked away. There is a big difference between a sheep that gets lost and a son who chooses to leave. Yet the heart of the shepherd and the heart of the father were the same.
The father knew his son could stay home physically but never truly give him his heart. To gain his son’s heart, he had to let him go on the journey. And in the end, when the son returned home, his heart returned as well.
“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.” – Luke 15:20 NLT
Everyone wants to be wanted. We all long to be desired, to belong, and to matter. Those are deep desires in the human heart, and there’s nothing wrong with them—unless we let them drive us into unhealthy pursuits.
The real danger comes when we move from wanting to be wanted, to needing to be needed. In that place, life begins to revolve around us. Our story becomes the center of the narrative, and even faith can quietly shift from Jesus-centered to me and Jesus-centered. I’ve taught this without even realizing it. Many of us have.
Here’s a hard truth: God wants me, but He doesn’t need me.
You might ask, “But Aaron, what if He stops wanting me? What if I do something wrong and He no longer desires me?”
That’s a valid question. And the answer is this: He will never stop desiring you. He made up His mind about you before you were born. He already chose to forgive your sins—past, present, and future. There is nothing you can do that hasn’t already been covered by the blood of Jesus.
In fact, His love is so deep that He allows you to choose what you will pursue. You were once dead in sin, without choice, and God pursued you, saved you, and rescued you from slavery to sin and self. In salvation, God pursued us. Now, in discipleship, we get the joy of pursuing Him.
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.’” – Matthew 16:24-25 NLT
What a passage. What a life.
God pursued us in salvation; now, as His children, we have the joy of pursuing Him in discipleship.
Prayer:
Father, thank You for never giving up on me. Thank You that Your love is steadfast, constant, and unconditional. Help me not only to rest in the truth that You pursued me, but also to live daily in pursuit of You. Give me a heart that longs for Your presence, a will surrendered to Your ways, and faith to follow You wherever You lead. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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3 Comments
Yes!! Such an important message for today. I can only be lost until He finds me, after that I pursue Him. Multiple places in scripture tells us to draw near or pursue God and then He will draw near to us/me.
Yes! ?
This is so good! Such a hard but beautiful truth! It’s taken me over 40 years to truly grasp God’s love for me and understand what pursuing Him means. Thank you for this sweet message, it spoke deeply to me.