Habakkuk 2:2 And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

We all run. Which way are you running?

Jeremiah 49:19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

Isaiah 55:5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

I have spent my whole life running, first away from God and now towards my Savior. The sad thing about that running way, I didn’t realize I was running at all. I was tired, but I didn’t know why. I was aimless and I didn’t know why. I felt useless and I didn’t know why. Then one day I surrendered and gave up running from the Lord who was pursuing me.

Ezekiel 35:6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.

I came to admit that I was guilty of the blood of Christ and that guilt had finally overcome me like the swelling of the Jordan in Jeremiah 49:19 ^. I grew weary of running and I surrendered.

Psalm 69:1,3,5,13,18 Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.  I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.

1 John 2:16 (misquoted) For all that is in the world, the lust of the eye, ear, nose and throat, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Don’t laugh, I am being serious. We know the real quote and we know the intended meaning. So often that is as far as we want to go with the meaning because just that much makes us uncomfortable. I am not here to make you comfortable.

Many of us have too much experience with lust of the eye. We do understand that looking upon things that are not meant to be ours can lead to covetousness. We are hounded by it every day, all day long. Its most common form, advertising. They have to sell product to make profit, so they target your weakest area, the eye.

What about the ear? What is the lust of the ear? Some will say it is music that promotes feelings that are dangerous. You can blame hip hop or rap or heavy metal or even contemporary music all you want, but that is not what I am talking about.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Heaven forbid that I should be offended by the truth.

Nose? That is simple enough. If you will not go where people stink, then you aren’t evangelizing. Jesus did not come to save those who smell good.

Throat? Think about the term, “that stuck in my craw”. How many times do we allow things to be said that ought not to be said? Not just by others but by ourselves also. Do you allow gossip to run freely in your group? Do you allow false teachings to stand in small groups without being challenged?