Pursued by Love 爱的追寻

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Dexu Xia

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May 23, 2021, 10:22:32 PM5/23/21

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I will say, “Salvation comes from the Lord.” Jonah 2:9

“I fled Him, down the nights and down the days,” opens the famous poem “The Hound of Heaven” by English poet Francis Thompson. Thompson describes Jesus’ unceasing pursuit—despite his efforts to hide, or even run away, from God. The poet imagines God speaking to him and saying, “I am He whom thou seekest!”

The pursuing love of God is a central theme of the book of Jonah. The prophet received an assignment to tell the people of Nineveh (notorious enemies of Israel) about their need to turn to God, but instead “Jonah ran away from the Lord” (Jonah 1:3). He secured passage on a ship sailing in the opposite direction of Nineveh, but the vessel was soon overcome by a violent storm. To save the ship’s crew, Jonah was thrown overboard before being swallowed by a large fish (1:15–17).

In his own beautiful poem, Jonah recounted that despite his best efforts to run away from God, God pursued him. When Jonah was overcome by his situation and needed to be saved, he cried out to God in prayer and turned toward His love (2:2, 8). God answered and provided rescue not only for Jonah, but for his Assyrian enemies as well (3:10).

As described in both poems, there may be seasons of our lives when we try to run from God. Even then Jesus loves us and is at work guiding us back into restored relationship with Him (1 John 1:9).

When have you tried to run from God? How did He provide rescue?

Jesus, thank You for lovingly pursuing me to offer rescue

救恩出于耶和华。—约拿书2章9节

英国诗人法兰西斯 · 汤普森（Francis Thompson）的名诗《天国的追逐者》（The Hound of Heaven）开头写着：“我躲避祂，历经白昼与黑夜。”汤普森藉着这首诗描述，虽然他努力地躲藏，甚至逃离上帝，但耶稣对他的追寻从不停息。最后，他写道：“我就是祢寻寻觅觅的人。”

上帝爱的追寻是约拿书的主轴。先知约拿受上帝差遣，向尼尼微人（以色列残暴的仇敌）宣告他们必须回转归向上帝。然而，“约拿却起来逃往他施去躲避耶和华”（约拿书1章3节）。他付了船费，登船要往尼尼微的相反方向去，但这艘船不久之后就被狂风大浪猛烈侵袭。为了解救船上的人，约拿被抛入海中，随即被一条大鱼吞吃入腹（1章15-17节）。

约拿在鱼腹中向上帝祷告，如诗般优美的祷词叙述说，即使他用尽全力要逃离上帝，但上帝仍不停地追寻他。当约拿身陷绝境极需救援时，他在祷告中向上帝呼求，转向上帝的爱（2章2、8节）。上帝不只应允约拿并拯救他，上帝也因尼尼微人的悔改而拯救了这些与约拿敌对的亚述人（3章10节）。

如这两首诗所描述的，我们在某个人生阶段也会试图逃离上帝。但即便如此，耶稣还是深爱着我们，并且追寻引导我们回转，恢复我们与祂的关系（约翰一书1章9节）。

你曾在何时试图逃离上帝？
当你落入苦难中，上帝曾如何帮助你？