Jesus Pursues Us

Years ago, I picked up a little book by John Stott called Why I Am a Christian. Early on in the book, I came across a line that I’ve never forgotten. Stott wrote,

Why I am a Christian is due ultimately neither to the influence of my parents and teachers, nor to my own personal decision for Christ, but to ‘the Hound of Heaven.’ That is, it is due to Jesus Christ himself, who pursued me relentlessly, even when I was running away from him.

That image—Jesus as the Hound of Heaven—has stuck with me for more than a decade.

Saul Ran from Jesus

Stott uses the example of the Apostle Paul.

We all remember Paul’s famous conversion on the Damascus Road. Luke powerfully captures that scene in Acts 9. But Stott traces Saul’s re-telling of the story and shows that Jesus was calling for Saul long before that blinding light from heaven knocked Saul to the ground.

When Saul retold the story of his conversion, he highlighted the words of Jesus
“And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads’” (Acts 26:14).

Jesus was calling for Saul. He was goading him to faith. But Saul’s hard heart resisted. He ran as hard and as fast and as far as he could. And even so, Jesus—the Hound of Heaven—continued to pursue Saul.

We Run Too

All of us have a tendency to run like Saul.

Sometimes we run from conviction. Sometimes we run from the pain we carry. Sometimes we run simply because we don’t want to surrender. But Jesus doesn’t just watch us run away. He runs after us.

Not long ago, to help out a friend I found myself sprinting across my neighborhood—literally—trying to catch a dog named Jax. I was jumping hurdles, ducking branches, running through the backyards of strangers and calling his name the whole time. It was equal parts comedy and chaos. Some of my neighbors definitely got some quality probably Ring footage out of it. But I was a man on a mission.

As ridiculous as that experience was, it gave me a picture of the way Jesus chases after us. He doesn’t call from a distance, hoping we turn around. He runs. He pursues. He came for us. And He calls us by name. Not to shame us, but to bring us to him.

Jesus Calls us By Name

I love that scene in John 20, early on Easter morning, when Mary is standing there weeping at the tomb. She is confused and heartbroken. She’s not expecting a miracle—she’s just grieving. Until Jesus comes to her. And when he calls her by her name: “Mary.”

Everything changed.

That’s how Jesus works. Like he did for Saul and Mary Magdalene, he comes into our confusion and pain and unbelief and rebellion. He doesn’t wait for us to figure it all out. He calls our name.

Jesus doesn’t pursue us because we’re worthy. He doesn’t chase us because we’ve earned it. He does it because that’s who he is—relentlessly loving, overwhelmingly gracious, and full of truth and compassion.

So maybe you’ve been running. Maybe you’re far from God right now or you’ve been running so long you feel completely lost.

Here is the good news? Jesus is still calling your name. And when you hear his voice, all you have to do is stop running.

Because the Hound of Heaven never stopped chasing you.