We are made to move. Geared to groove.
To go. To chase. To pursue.
Imbedded down deep, in a part of us so hidden we sometimes barely know it’s there; there is encoded within our makeup, an urge, an impulse … a drive.
And that drive is to seek out whatever it takes to bring meaning and purpose and significance to this journey.
We suspect that it’s out there. Somewhere. Right? Some answer to the question. Some solution to the problem. Some destination that if we could just get directions we could navigate our way there, and maybe, just maybe have a shot at a life worth waking up to in the mornings.
And who wouldn’t want that?
So, we drive.
We move. We groove. We go…chase…pursue all the people, and places, and moments that we suspect will make this trip matter.
Trouble is? It can be exhausting.
All this seeking, this pursuing, this driving, toward that one elusive thing, never really knowing if THAT thing is THE thing we’re really after. So, we pour ourselves into this relationship. That degree. This career. That position on the team. All the while, never really sensing the kind of contentment we thought would come. We drive and drive and drive, so far, for so long, that we wake up some days with barely anything left in the tank.
St. Augustine of Hippo was a theologian of the early church, who lived in Northern Africa, during the turn of the 5th century. In what is likely his most famous work entitled Confessions, Augustine writes:
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
Could anything be more inviting?
It’s as if we have this divine homing beacon.
A kind of spiritual GPS built in to our interior life, designed to move us Godward…
but with the absolute freedom to ignore it’s prompts, and go our own way.
The scriptures echo this truth again and again and again.
There is one singular pursuit in this life that has the capacity to make it all matter.
That’s why on Sunday, August 10th we’re beginning a new series at Johns Creek Baptist, entitled “Driven.”
For five weeks we’re going to explore what the scriptures have to say about our priorities and our pursuits. About what’s worth the chase and what’s not.
August 10 Part 1: “Fuel” (Philippians 1:6, Philippians 3:4-8 and Matthew 13: 45-46)
August 17 Part 2: “Focus” (Mark 10: 35-52)
August 24 Part 3: “Fire” (2 Timothy 1:6; Isaiah 62:1; Luke 24:32)
August 31 Part 4: “Fog” (Luke 10: 38-42)
September 7 Part 5: “Fumes” (Romans 12:1-2; Exodus 20:8; Mark 2:27)
Shaun King
Senior Pastor
Johns Creek Baptist Church
