Having
a close personal and ever increasing relationship with God is the most
essential need for believers. All other
aspects of our faith walk as Christians depend on the spiritual growth and
grooming that results from this relationship with our Heavenly Father. In Following
Hard After God,
Chris Ekwedam provides a view of how we must adjust our desires and actions in
order to become Seekers of God. This is
a view that will not be found in the rituals and dogmas of religion. While it is ever so important to repent
“from” sin, an even more important aspect of repentance that is often not
adequately emphasized is “Turning Toward” God to truly seek His will for our
lives. Here in this book, Ekwedam takes
the other approach to illustrate the importance of turning toward and following
after God, and so the necessity of turning away from our selves, worldly
influences, and sin becomes obvious in comparison.
In
each chapter, the reader is challenged to consider the many distractions, both
from worldly influences as well as our own human natures, which draw our
attention away from this relationship that we most desire and need. Perhaps the most important challenge is to
put away the many various inadequate images of who God is that we are trained
to imagine by religion and social conventions: images that limit our faith and
access to God as the source and supply for all our needs. Realizing that this is a process, a lifelong
journey, to learn who God truly is and who we truly are to God, Ekwedam admits,
“My aim is not to give you the A, B, C, on how to quench the thirst of your
soul and satisfy this great desire that you have; my intention is to help you kick
start the journey.”
Following
Hard After God is certainly
among the most clear-cut and direct discussions of this topic that I have ever
read. It makes an excellent text for the
introduction to any curriculum of Biblical / ministry studies. I refer to this as an introductory text
because it is much better to begin the Journey with this understanding in hand
than to correct bad study, worship, and Seeking habits once they have been
formed. And likewise, it is a great book
to give as a gift or to recommend to those we are inevitably in a position to
assist and encourage on their journey with God.
George
A. Lane
Chairman,
Advisory Board - Vision Bible College Support Society
Project
Manager, Vision Bible College Campus Development Project
