Quote from Forum Archives on February 8, 2012, 12:27 pm

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional
There are 17,000 Subscribers to the Email Devotional

02.08.12

Chasing Yourself

The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it
arose. The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the
wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit. All the
rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which
the rivers come, there they return again. - Ecclesiastes 1:5-7 NKJV.

An undercover police officer in Sussex, England was notified by a CCTV
operator that there was a suspect in his area. This is an area that has been
hit hard by burglars. The CCTV operator gave instructions to the officer,
and the chase was on. The officer chased and chased the suspect for more
than 20 minutes until a supervisor realized that the CCTV operator had made
a mistake. The operator thought that the officer, who was in plainclothes,
was a possible burglary suspect; and had been instructing the officer to
chase himself. (Orange News 02.08.2012)

What was the point of a police officer chasing himself? What is the point of
anyone chasing themselves? That is the point. It is pointless. It is
purposeless. It is meaningless to chase yourself. "The wind goes toward the
south, and turns around to the north; the wind whirls (circles - Amplified
Bible) about continually, and comes again on its circuit." The Book of
Ecclesiastes is all about how to find meaning in life, or maybe a better way
of stating it would be of how not to find meaning in life. Solomon tried
about every possible way to find meaning and for a portion of his life just
ended up chasing himself. Solomon kept going in circles like a cat or a dog
chasing its tail, just chasing himself. Have you ever felt like that? You
just keep doing the same thing over and over again, and you wonder if there
is any real purpose, real need to keep on going? How do you find meaning,
purpose, in life?

Solomon sums up his miserable attempts to find meaning in the pleasures of
this world with a summary statement of what he finally realized by saying,
"Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will
bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good
or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NKJV)." What about us what are some practical
ways that we can find meaning and purpose in life and stop chasing
ourselves? In response to the question about what is the greatest
commandment, Jesus said this, "You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first
and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your
neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets (Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV)."

You can know Jesus as your Savior and still end up chasing yourself if you
do not love God by putting God first in your life. As Jesus says in Matthew
6:33 NKJV, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added to you." This is a prescription for purpose, for
meaning, for joy to be added to your life. Serving God, being obedient to
God, has to be at the very top of your list of priorities or you will just
continue on chasing yourself around and around in circles. You make God
first by giving Him your time. You give God time when you pray, read the
Bible, attend church, when you give, and serve Him in any way. You make God
first by not just talking about these things but by actually doing them.

You do not have to go through the misery that Solomon went through and that
so many others have gone through. You can begin now to live your life for
God in every possible way that you can. Then, you will find peace. Then, you
will find joy. Then, you will find meaning. Then, you will find purpose.
Then, you will have stopped chasing yourself.

Copyright © 2012. Ed Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since
January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush
Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early
1990s. The distribution of these first devotionals was primarily through the
Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison facilities throughout the United
States and Canada.

Please continue to pray for my wife, Jeanie, as she recovers from surgery
and ovarian cancer, and is now going through chemo. Many prayer needs are
posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page. You can also
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Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray
for me.).

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