The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer reminds us that everything is sacred, and we are called to pursue God in all things. Because our hearts long for fellowship with God, true happiness will only be found in the earnest pursuit of Him.

You have a deep hunger that won’t be satisfied until you find God.

The Pursuit of God is for those who want the deepest possible relationship with the One who created them. A.W. Tozer was a prophet in his time and gave his life to calling God’s children to the very highest mountaintops. This is one of his very best attempts to do just that.

Even when Christians know they need more of God in their lives, they don’t always know where to start. Often, they feel burdened by the day-to-day details of life and fail to see what those have to do with glorifying God. With insight into the Bible, the heart of God, and the nature of fallen sinners, the following study will help you find God when you need Him most. 

In this summary, you will learn:

  • a better understanding of how God calls us to pursue Him;
  • of God’s call for you to lay everything else down for the sake of knowing Christ; and
  • some concrete steps for hearing the still, small voice of God.

After God initially draws a person, they must follow after Him with endurance.

No man or woman can come to God apart from His grace. God draws men and women to Himself. But then the Christian must pursue God. Psalm 42:1-2 says, “As the Hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”

Unfortunately, in our day transactional conversion – “receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior” – has created converts that do not hunger and thirst for God. We love theology and wonder in it, but God is not just theology. He is a Person. A relationship requires interaction from personality to personality. Because we are His image-bearers, we can truly know Him.

Unless we are born again, we will not want Him because of our sin. But once we have been regenerated, we will long for Him, and we should pursue Him. Men of the Bible showed us an example. Moses, David, and Paul all modeled this pursuit. Paul said, “Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for who I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:8).

Religious life has become complicated and wooden. Churches are frenetic with the business of programs and activities, but if we would get God back in our churches, we must commit to the simplicity of chasing God like children. Attempt by His grace to think of nothing but Him. Just as God told the Levites that He was their inheritance, today’s holy priesthood, all true believers, must see God as their greatest treasure, worth everything they have.

As with Abraham, God will test us to see that we have renounced all but Him.

The first man was designed with a whole heart for God. God gave him a great number of external gifts for his enjoyment, but none made their way into his heart until sin entered the world. Now our hearts are a battleground between God and our possessions. And we struggle with coveting.

This, however, is not how Jesus taught us to live. Instead, our Lord commended those who are poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3). To be poor in spirit is to renounce everything but God, to take up your cross and follow Him. Things no longer have the dominant position of your heart in that state. You have defeated the enemy by surrendering to God. Yours is the kingdom of heaven.

A great example of this is found in the life of Abraham, who was an old man when his pride and joy, Isaac, was born. But God commanded Abraham to take his son and offer him as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:2). Imagine the turmoil for this old man who loved his son so deeply. Abraham would surely prefer to be the one who died. He must have reasoned at some point that God would raise him from the dead, as Hebrews 11:19 suggests.

God allowed Abraham to raise the knife before He set him at ease by putting forth a substitute. Abraham was a completely surrendered old saint, and God blessed him mightily for it. Abraham held no possession in his heart, but that did not mean that he had no financial means. He was wealthy in livestock, grain, and servants, but these did not penetrate his heart.

Whether it is relations, gifts, and talents, or money, the covetous former self in us must be offered up to God so it can be ripped out of us. Then and only then can we become the possessor of nothing but one who has everything. Every Christian will face the test. Your whole eternal future will be determined by passing or failing this test.