Apprehending is the story of the life of a Christian. When we become saved, the Lord apprehends us. We can feel His touch, His pulling of the heart strings, but something can also happen that draws us so close to Him that we actually apprehend God.

 

Paul wrote the following when thinking about his current relationship with the Lord and the future he has:

 

 

A more conversational way of putting it can be found in The Message. “I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.”

 

“Off and running?” “Press toward the mark?” These phrases make me think of a simple analogy. Have you ever noticed how large the windshield of your car is? Your windshield must be large so that you can see the way that lies ahead. Similarly, have you noticed how small your rearview mirrors are? They are smaller because the past doesn’t need to be as clearly seen or analyzed. Our life in the Lord is the same way. The Holy Spirit, the One sent along to help us, is continually leading and guiding us forward, making sure we can see the way we should be going. He is showing us a continual, clear picture of what to pursue. Our only hope of successfully apprehending God is to seek after Him persistently.

 

Once we decide to apprehend God, life can never be the same. See, apprehending God is not required. It’s not even suggested by some believers. Daily reaching towards Christ is only for the serious Christian. Since Jesus is not just something we add to our life, we must take into account the gravity of our decisions. Deciding to apprehend Christ means that He must become our life. We must find Him, possess Him, overtake Him, and lay hold of Him.

 

Let us look at the life of Moses as an example. When the Lord spoke to Moses from a burning bush, Moses responds as any man would. Exodus 3:6 tells us that “Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” Now, this is a completely different Moses from the one we meet at the end of the book. Let’s look at Exodus 33:11. It reads, “And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” What made Moses change? In chapter three, Moses hides his face from the Lord, but in chapter thirty-three, he converses with God face to face. More than that, by then end of the exodus, Moses has an incomparable relationship with God and God knows Moses by name! (See Exodus 33:13-17) What a wonderful thought! The same could be for us! We can be apprehended by God and enjoy the Christian life, but we can also apprehend God and find an intimate relationship with the Lord of Hosts.

 

In my mind, there are many reasons to apprehend the Lord, but there is one true way of recognizing that you need to apprehend Him – we must know that we cannot live one more day or go one more mile without Him. We must understand that life is not worth living without the Lord and all of His goodness and majesty.

 

If this sounds wonderful or if this sounds like an answer to your prayers, then there is one more important piece of information that I should share. I must warn you that apprehending the Lord is not easy; but it is an action that is blessed in this life today and will be continually rewarded in the life to come. I side with Paul and hopefully encourage, “God is beckoning us onward … I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.” Amen.