God’s pursuit fuels passion, which fuels missions.
I am a father of two sons (5 & 3). One of their favorite movies is “Finding Nemo”. During a window of about 3 months we watched the movie 84 times. To be honest with you, I began to loathe the movie. That was until I watched it for the 85th time. During that 85th watching, I saw something in that movie that transformed my relationship with God.
The title might sound a little silly, but I believe the message is quite powerful. I will let you be the judge….so here we go.
Meet Nemo
The movie starts out with a father and son (Marlin and Nemo). Marlin is a very protective father. Nemo is a son who is ready to do his own thing. They seem to have a unique and very strong bond, but you have a son who is eager to move outside the over protection of his father. About 20 minutes into the movie you have Nemo challenging his father.
His father always hammered into him one simple statement “Don’t swim over the drop off”. Well Nemo decides to challenge that authority…. In an act of disobedience Nemo swims over the ledge, and touches the “Butt” (you need to watch the movie).
We can stop here for a minute and see the parallel this has in our own life. Why are we so eager to adventure life in disobedience?
Back to the story…Once Nemo touches the “butt”, a complete act of defiance, sin (in the form of a scuba diver) captures Nemo and takes him away from all he knew. Nemo wakes up in a strange place and through a series of events desperately tries to escape.
A Father’s Fight
My question is why? Why is Nemo trying to escape from and return to the very life he didn’t want? I believe the answer is simple… He realized he was wrong. He is now desperate to return to his father. He tries and tries and tries to escape, but to no avail. He eventually gives up and depression sets in…
What Nemo does not realize and what he does not see….is that his father is in relentless pursuit of his son. The same father that is over-cautious and over protective, decides to lay his very life on the line for one reason alone….. His son! His desperate yearning to be with his son outweighed everything else. He boldly and urgently swam over the ledge in a relentless pursuit of his son.
He faced many dangers and adventures on this pursuit. He was nearly eaten by group of vegan sharks, stung by jellyfish, swallowed by a whale, chased by a crazy mean looking fish, and others. The DEEP love he had for his son was all he knew and all he wanted.
Back to Nemo… Again Nemo had given up and was in depression. All he knew was he would probably die, but even more than that…. he feared he would never again see his father.
The Story Spreads
Now this is the part that gets me… The story of Marlin’s adventures spread throughout the ocean (turtles told the crabs, crabs told the fish, fish told the pelicans, etc). Once the friendly pelican heard the story he was desperate to take this message to NEMO (evangelism). Once Nemo heard that his father was in hot pursuit of him, he shed his depression and a holy fire of pursuit overcame him. In a bold act of determination he decided to fight. Nemo was now is similar pursuit of his father. Nemo escaped and was back with the only person…fish…. that mattered to Him….. His Daddy!
This story relates to us in so many ways. We have a father that pursued us in similar passion, for one reason alone. He desperately loves you and wants you to be with Him. This response allows us to rise up in similar pursuit and results in a beautiful collision. It’s this collision and this position that gives us purpose, clarity, and life. Without these daily collisions, it is hard to move forward in our mission.
Revelation 3:20,”Here I am, I stand the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and him with me.”
Colby May