Growing up in the rural southeast Arkansas town of Hamburg has so many incredible life revealing lessons. One was driving down any country road you always encountered a dog running from his home to chase an on-coming truck or car… always. It was hilarious to watch the dog come racing from the porch or yard where they had been sleeping. The front wheel was the object of the chase. Running as fast as he could, staring at the shiny hubcap the dog barked at the wheel. Most dogs survived the challenge of getting close but not too close. But sometimes it ended badly.

Maybe it was the roar of the truck or car…the challenge of catching the moving vehicle or the memory of seeing the bright flashy wheels but it was hard to break a dog from chasing a vehicle. And chase they did with reckless abandonment. Sometimes running into the mailbox post of the culvert.

Our culture today is much like the dog on the porch. When we hear the roar of the crowd, the bright and shiny attractions…we get up without thinking and chase what we will never catch… love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Like the dog on the porch…we are wired to chase something, what will it be? Will it be the loud roar and the shiny, fast hubcaps that will disappear in the dust of time or God’s Forever Love and Peace?

God’s Way                                               World’s Way

Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23)                         Fruit of the Flesh (The News)

LOVE                                                                          HATE

JOY                                                                             DISCONTENTMENT

PEACE                                                                       CONFLICT

PATIENCE                                                               ANGER

KINDNESS                                                              CRUELTY

GOODNESS                                                            EVIL

FAITHFULNESS                                                    UNFAITHFULNESS

GENTLENESS                                                        HARSHNESS

SELF-CONTROL                                                    SELF-INDULGENCE

Paul captures our life today in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should.”

In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul reveals the focus of his heart. “dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[a] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

Let these words settle in your heart. …”O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1.

What are you chasing?