Pursuing Jesus
“Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them;” Luke 4:42 NKJV
Just previous to this verse the people had been bringing their sick to Jesus. They had no hope in the world and were enduring the pain and suffering of sickness and disease. But laying hands on them, Jesus healed each one. They brought the demon possessed to Jesus and He delivered every one of them. When you read of that you notice that everyone was healed and delivered. That means the people had a true sense of expectancy, a belief in the power of Jesus to deliver. As you read other places in the Gospels you become aware of one or just a few getting healed but it is not always many because in so many places there was not faith to believe. For all to be delivered these people truly believed and anticipated they would see deliverance in Jesus, they were hungry for His deliverance power in their lives.
Just a few verses after this, we read the verse above. Jesus left them and sought a place away from the people to be restored and refreshed in the Father Himself. He departed, but the people followed Him, they sought after Him because they believed. They saw the power of Jesus and they did not want Him to leave them. The two things we should always remember from this account are that the people believed and that they pursued Jesus for more.
It is because they believed that they saw so many multiplied miracles in their midst. And once they saw the power of Jesus, they wanted more. They did not just settle, they wanted more of Jesus and so they sought after Him even when He had removed Himself from them. They were not content, they pursued Jesus for more! They saw the value of Jesus and they left home, responsibilities and the trappings of everyday life to have more of Him.
This should be our inclination today. We have already received so much more from Jesus than they had and yet they followed after Him, they pursued Jesus for more. We have salvation and new life in Jesus and all the power and blessings that come with His gift of salvation. We have the Holy Spirit of God living within us because of what Jesus has done for us. We have every promise of the Word available to us and yet we settle for what we already have. We tend to get saved and settle right there, never seeking more, never pursuing Jesus for more of what He has already established for us. We have so much more from Jesus than those people in Luke did, but the one thing we lack is their desire for more of Jesus. Don’t settle! He has so much more for you. Pursue Him passionately and receive all His love and blessings fully.
J Todd Hostetler