Single-Minded Obsession

It is that time of year again. We have already turned our clocks ahead. The snow we had this past weekend is quickly melting as the temperatures rise into the 50s and 60s. The first day of spring is less than a week away. Patio furniture is being cleaned and carried outside. Grills and smokers are being fired up. After a lengthy dispute with the owners, Major League baseball teams are finally in Spring Training. But it is that time of year for something else as well. It is that time of year when we seem to be obsessed with one thing!

Tonight, much of the country will be focused on one thing and one thing only – the start of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, affectionately known as March Madness. This year’s madness features 67 games at 14 venues over the course of 20 days.

The brackets were announced on Sunday and since then sports talk programs have broken down the tournament with the so-called experts ad nauseam. Advertisers will begin using March Madness themed ads to get us to buy their products and services. The tournament even has its own jargon and terminology – The Big Dance, Cinderella, Selection Sunday, Bracketology, First Four, Bracket Buster, Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four, and the four teams that just missed out on making the tournament are called the First Four Out.  

As a nation, we are obsessed with this tournament. Millions of people are pouring every ounce of energy into researching the teams and trying to pick the winners and the upsets. Even people who do not regularly follow college basketball often fill out a bracket.

However, sadly, when it comes to our commitment to following Jesus, that pursuit sometimes pales in comparison to the energy and effort we put forth in trying to fill out our brackets. Pursuing Jesus is not a casual, go through the motions, kind of thing. The Bible makes it clear that pursuing Jesus is an all-in activity.

The Bible is full of references to earnestly seeking God. We find these words as the opening verse in Psalm 63, “You God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole body longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” In 1 Chronicles 16:11 we read these words, “Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.” And later, in that same book we are told, “Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God” (22:19).  

Psalm 119 begins, “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart” (vv.1-2). And v.10, “With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments.”

Not only are we called to earnestly seek after God, but Scripture also tells us that if we do so, we will find Him. The number of verses that give us that promise is lengthy, here are just two. Proverbs 8:17 tells us this, “I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.” And in Deuteronomy 4:29 we find these words, “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and all your soul.”

In instructing his disciples not to worry about physical necessities, Jesus says this in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This implies a life in full submission to the rule and reign of God, an uncompromising trust in his providence. It is to pursue the first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-10). I encourage you to always read the verses I mention in context; this verse comes near the end of a longer passage (6:19-34).

So, are you pursuing God with the same single-minded obsession and passion as you have when completing your bracket? If you seek after God with an all-in attitude, you will find Him. And that wins every time!  

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