Is This A Godly Pursuit?

2 Samuel 2:19 “And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.”

2 Samuel 2:20 “Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am.”

2 Samuel 2:21 “And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him.”

Webster 1828 dictionary defines the word “pursue” as “To follow; to go or proceed after or in a like direction.”

It also means “to follow with haste” and “To seek; to use measures to obtain;” and “To endeavor to attain to; to strive to reach or gain.”

… you probably get the point.

We are in 2 Samuel 2 today, it’d be great to read it for yourself.

… Maybe you’re in such hot pursuit of things of the world and this life that you don’t even have time to read for yourself! … which isn’t good is it.

… The Lord… remember him? Yoohoo? Hello? Have you factored him into your pursuits of life?

We are in a world of pursuits, everyone’s pursuing after something, or many things, and I don’t want to discourage you from that necessarily… but I would like to ask you… is God in it?

Better to pursue with foresight now than lament in hindsight in years to come.. right?

I know it’s hard to see the tragedy that lies a little further down the road while the pursuit is hotly afoot now, as it was quite literally in this story, but life happens fast, things can go wrong in a hurry… and Asahel’s hasty pursuit did not turn out like he pictured it would.

If you’re not saved, you’re yet realize things won’t turn out like you think they will. You may not see death, judgment, hell in your future yet… but that’s not because it’s not there, it’s just you can’t see it yet. And God is warning you, stop, turn around, give it… choose life!

God has much better vision than you and I. When you don’t see it the way God sees it, it’s not because he doesn’t see well, it’s just you’re blind. The Bible gives you supernatural sight, you can see things as they truly are, truthfully into where we come from and far into eternity where we are going. And God can see far further down that road you’re charging down in hot pursuit at the moment. Wait up! Stop! Let it go! Because just because you may be ahead of the rest may just mean you’re first worst.

I know this may be your perception that God is just always against you and everything but I hope with time you come to know and understand what was true all along… that the Lord is not against you, the Bible says “in his favour is life” … yes he’s against sin in our lives, and all our stupidity and foolishness, but that’s because he’s for us, not against us, because he loves us, not hates us… it’s quite an immature and unwise attitude to carry around this whole God’s against me complex our whole life.

… Because so much is at stake! Asahel literally died in this story, something he never would’ve woken up the morning seeing as possible of happening, which is a testament to how quickly things can turn, and why we should always live with eternal viewpoint and an understanding of our fragility… “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

Oh but you don’t see all the admirable things about this pursuit of mine. Well, I see them and tip my hat to them. You’re probably and most likely far better and far ahead of me, I’d be like those soldiers who Asahel left in his rearview mirror.

… because there was a lot of things to admire about Asahel’s pursuit. And let’s quickly mention them. Because you can have an admirable qualities to your pursuit, but that doesn’t mean God is in it.

But If you are rationalizing and endorsing an ungodly pursuit in life, he could the more. He was diligent. Disciplined. Committed. Didn’t tire or wear out. Didn’t give up. Wasn’t deterred. Didn’t look left or right… he was focused. He wasn’t put off, no one could tell him otherwise. He was courageous. He was brave. He was valiant. He was serving. He was doing his best and not settling for less.

These… and more… are some great attributes which every child of God needs in the pursuit. But they aren’t what makes the pursuit RIGHT. And the Bible says follow righteousness and godliness… and he just the small problem for all the excellence in HOW he pursued there was… yet he wasn’t doing what was right and God wasn’t in it.

Just because there are good aspects of a pursuit, don’t let them seduce you into thinking that it is a godly one. There are many footy players who focus every part of their life into getting the maximum out of their body and ability… they get applauded, people cheer them on, every now and again one of them does exceptionally well… at kicking a ball through a goal or winning a medal… doesn’t really mean they achieved anything in the context of eternity and purpose for living… and never meant they were chasing God’s glory and God’s leading in their life.

And so while we can tip our hat to some of the qualities that Asahel’s chase displayed… yet he was not following God’s leading, yet God was not in it, yet he was not wise.

Maybe he thought what happened to him when Abner shoved his spear through him could’ve never happened to him. Maybe you still think what the Bible says and warns of is just hot air and could never happen to you. And yes, scripture always applies to everyone else but never to me right, you could never wreck and ruin your life chasing things you ought not!

…Well, neither did people think what happened to Asahel could’ve happened to him and yet here they were, all gathered around the most pitiful heart wrenching unbelievable sight.

Learn from Asahel’s life that though he was mighty and gifted… yet he was extremely fallible. Maybe you think you’re infallible, but you very much are fallible. There’s plenty of things you and I miss. That’s why we trust God. Because we are all very fallible, in fact it’s a wonder we ever stand upright at all. Only Christ can make us “upright”. And only Jesus Christ can keep us from falling, which is why he needs to be the center and object of our pursuits, and if not, you’re going to have a fall one of these days.

This is not a storybook warning to the person out there somewhere. The Bible’s not helping someone that’s not reading it, it’s helping someone that is. Asahel wasn’t “unsaved heathen”. He was related to David, protected by Joab, he was connected, he was in the family… and he ended in a pool of his own blood when he didn’t have to.

This is how serious it is to get God’s wisdom from heaven for your life. There’s many things out there which you might be striving for … why not make the wisdom of God from above your prize? Why not let God’s wisdom direct and adorn and exalt your life, direct your steps, guide your journey, furnish your table, fill your soul. Solomon could’ve had everything but he above all else asked for wisdom from God.

Without wisdom, what use is our gifts and abilities. They can just be used against us. If Asahel couldn’t run so fast he wouldn’t have been able to catch up with Abner to be killed by him. If Asahel wasn’t so courageous, he couldn’t have ignored all the warnings and gone so far ahead alone.

Because without wisdom we also see how stupid this man was. We have tipped our hat to what we consider virtue and quality, and yet consider his example in the stupid things he did. Because chasing Abner was totally unwise.

He was unwise in overestimating his ability to handle what he could not. And just because he was fast didn’t mean he could fight. Abner was no joke, he wasn’t bodyguard to Saul and captain of Saul’s army for no reason. What made Asahel think he was in his league?

Look, I’m no match for the devil, sin in my life, and I’m no match for most, if any people, there’s always someone smarter, someone stronger, someone more clever than me. I can only trust God and try to step in line with him. If he is not my strength, I have none. If he is not my wisdom, I am a fool. If he is not my riches, I am most poor.

Without wisdom, all your attributes are useless, thus wisdom is what the Bible says a man needs most “wisdom is profitable to direct”.

In case you think I’m being unfair, consider how unwise, and thus foolish, it was for Asahel to seek his own glory. What made him think he could exalt himself and separate himself from all the other soldiers of David’s army? He was deluded about himself and his ability, and where his abilities started and ended.

He was foolish in thinking he didn’t need protection from the rest of the army, and in charging ahead, he got isolated and far from protection. In like manner, it is stupid to isolate yourself from Bible and Bible believers. You may think you can “take him”… but you can’t. I can’t, you can’t.

It was also very foolish of Asahel to ignore warnings. How many warnings has God given you to turn around, give it up, let it go… and you are insistent on having something and pursuing a line of action that is outside of his will for your life? … that’s stupid!

Asahel was unwise because he didn’t make sure his pursuit was the RIGHT thing to do… because the whole entire battle and pursuit was wrong… the Bible says “As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.”

… Make sure your pursuit is RIGHT. And how are you going to know it’s right? “the word of the Lord is right” “And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.” Joab started the battle but David never gave the order to kill Abner, in fact, David had spared Abner and in the next chapter David would broker a truce with Abner. Oh dear Asahel, though he could rationalize it, yet it was not right.

Furthermore, we know Asahel wasn’t wise because he chased in emotion. The Bible says the battle was “sore”. There was a lot of feeling in this fight between brethren, people had been killed in the battle, tempers had flared, emotions were running high… and that’s how his pursuit started and was based on, his blood was up… when your blood is up the blood will flow.

And remember how this whole battle started. With infighting. Two groups of people who didn’t quite see eye to eye on who should be king of God’s people. Look there’s going to be people out there who don’t agree with you, who don’t see it all the same of you… within Christianity this happens also. You’re going to have to let it go and just run your race and let God sort it all out. David did this , so why didn’t Asahel his soldier?

And so what I want for you, and for me, today… is godly wisdom. Let God’s wisdom frame your pursuits. God’s word says “wisdom is the principal thing”… and not wisdom of this world, which will mess up your life… but the wisdom of God… “ For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war”.

I’m sure you’ve got good reasons for why you are pursuing what you are pursuing, but ask yourself.. is this what God wants for me? What does God really want me to be following after? We are meant to be following Jesus. Seeking God’s glory with everything he gives us. Life doesn’t even really have to be a crazy pursuit of what we think we need and deserve… God freely gifts us everything we ever need and more.

When you get saved, you become far less a go getter and far more a wait on the Lord and in his timing he brings the showers of blessing. You don’t need to get caught up in life’s mad rat race. How often we find ourselves spinning on the hamster wheel because we can never get what Satan hangs out in front of us.

And it’s good to have mission and purpose and a goal. After all the Bible says we are running a race. But our prize is Christ, his calling on our life, what he saved us for, knowing him more and more. David wrote in Psalm 63:8 “My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.”

And this is that David which pursued his family based on God’s word and recovered them all after they had been carried away captive. We can’t go there today but there is so much that could be said on this issue… but God doesn’t leave us wondering, the Bible says what to pursue and what not to … 1 Timothy 6:11 “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.” Are those things the recipe of your pursuits?

And see, Paul had just warned Timothy about love of money and riches which run you through like Asahel was… and contrary to what everyone else is doing, what everyone else is pursuing… run the opposite direction of what others are charging after! Flee those things!… and this is what you should pursue man of God!

Pursue in God’s wisdom people! Not in the face of wisdom. Not without it. Let God’s wisdom instruct, adorn, inspire your pursuit! Get a godly mission and direction and hunger for righteousness in your life. Remember God, remember it’s all about him and his name and his glory. Don’t get caught up in stupid stuff, even if everyone else is, this whole war Asahel got swept up in was all stupid stuff. You’re allowed to think for yourself.

Please God, show me the truth, are you in this pursuit of mine… is this a godly pursuit? … if not, let it go, and live!

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