Pursued

The other day I was watching a crime show on tv.  The detective saw the suspect in the park.   He observed him for some time before approaching.  He then approached the suspect and said he would like to speak with him.  The suspect then gave chase and ran into an apartment building nearby.  The detective pursued right behind.  The suspect climbed the stairs and soon found himself trapped on the roof.  Fearful of what might happen if the detective caught him, he decided to try and jump from one roof to the next.  His attempt failed and he wound up hanging for dear life to a pipe near the top of the first building.  He cried for help.  The detective approached and tried to reach out to assist him.  The suspect was wearing a backpack.  The detective told him that the backpack was weighing him down.  He advised him to let the backpack go, but the suspect refused.  The suspect tried to reach up the detective, but restricted by his backpack, he was unable.  He soon lost his grip and fell to his death.

Afterwards, I could not help but think about how this is really of picture of God's desire for relationship with us.  So often, he will approach us in the park and just want to talk to us.  Just to sit on the bench and have a pleasant conversation.  We, however, are afraid of him and start to run.  Like the suspect, we are afraid of what he will ask us to do, afraid of what he will find out, afraid of what sins he will expose, and afraid of being asked to give something up.  So we run.  We run and try to hide from the one who created the entire universe.  The one who sees all and knows all.  Like an elephant hiding behind a bamboo tree we think we can hide from God.  Like the suspect, eventually our burden of sin causes us to stumble.  Were we to let our sin go, we would find it easier to take hold of God's hand and be drawn to safety.  Clinging to the sin will eventually send us to a certain death.  At this point, the analogy begins to break down.  In the story, the detective tried to reach out to the suspect who was crying for help...but he was unable.   In reality, when we cry out to God, he will reach down and grab us and left us ... with our burden of sin still attached.  Once he has set us safely down, he will take the burden and cast it as far as the East is from the West.  If only we would just stop and talk to him...while we are still in the safety of the park.