Nearing my 75th birthday, I realize that I’m certainly from a very different generation and therefore see many things very differently. Many of my different perceptions of things are rooted in how different my growing up years were compared to now days.
As I was recently teaching on the first chapter of Joel, one of my growing up experiences came to mind and I shared it with my class, as an illustration of God’s pursuit of His children via a severe locust plague.
I grew up here in Pampa and played Little League baseball for C. R. Hoover Oil Co. Our practice field was located in Hobart St. Park, near where the Animal Shelter is now. One day, during infield practice, several of us were doing a terrible job of catching ground balls; we weren’t getting down with our glove in the dirt. Coach got more and more frustrated. Finally, when one of the guys missed several in a row, Coach barked, “If you miss one more grounder, I’m going to chase you with my whipping belt around that far light pole and back to home plate.” I think most of us thought he was kidding. That boy missed another grounder, coach took his belt off and took off after him. He caught the boy at about the light pole and whipped him all the way back to home plate. That boy didn’t miss another grounder that day and neither did any of the rest of us. Nowadays, that would be considered abuse and might even land coach in jail/prison. Back then, it was behavior modification and it worked. I asked my dad, who was watching, what he thought. He said, “If you don’t want a whipping, don’t let a grounder get under your glove.”
In the days of Joel, God’s people were living in sin and needed to repent. So what did God do? He sent a plague of grasshoppers like there had never been before and destroyed every living plant/crop. It was His way of whipping His kids around the light pole, hoping to lead them to repentance.
So when we sing songs like “Goodness of God” and “Reckless Love” and the lyrics describe God running after us, do we only see God running as the soft and tender parable of the lost sheep describes, or do we also remember, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” (Heb 12:5-6; Prov 3:11-12) God can and does run after us both ways.
So who is running after whom?
Are we running after God or is God running after us? Answer: YES!
And when God runs after us, can it be with the softness and tenderness of the lost sheep? YES! But can it also be with discipline and punishment? YES!
And does God expect us to run after Him, like the parable of the prodigal son? YES!
This should help us to better “sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.” 1 Cor 14:15 God bless.
Mike “Pawdad” Sublett, Pastor @ Hi-Land Christian Church, Pampa, Texas 79065, 630-730-8015