“And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
Dear Ones:
When Jesus gave what is commonly called, “The Sermon On The Mount,” He laid out some very important truths. These truths reflect the reality of an individual coming to truly KNOW God, and this by seeking Him. Jesus put it like this: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. “(Matt. 7:7) If this was not enough to convince us that it is the will of God that we seek Him, IN ORDER to find Him, He adds: “For EVERYONE that asks, receives; and he that seeks, finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.” God calls us to ask in prayer, seek Him in His word, and to knock on His very door…that our meeting with Him should be realized.
With regard to whether our Creator, and Father, desires to be found, and respond to us in a very concrete manner, the Lord goes on to use an illustration. “…What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?” (v. 9) We respond to this statement by saying that the actions of such a man are unconscionable. Jesus goes a step further. “Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?” This time he asks if a man will be so heartless and wicked to give that which will kill his son, instead of giving him that which contributes to his life. Again, this is totally unacceptable. The Lord then makes His point: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, HOW MUCH MORE will your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?” (v.11) The point is that God is NOT like we are. We are so twisted by sin in our concepts of love and goodness. It is not so with God. He IS love, and the Giver of every good and perfect gift.
Psalm 34 is the story of David, who found himself to be in circumstances that were thrust upon him, circumstances which could have ended his life. David had NO other recourse than that of seeking God, and believing in His intervention. Thus, he will say: “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from ALL my fears.” (v.4) Here is a man who BELIEVED that one could truly seek God and find Him. He goes on to say: “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of ALL his troubles.” (v.6) What do we see here in David’s “search” for God? The first thing is that there is a profound conviction of need. The second thing we see is that there is the expectation in the heart that if God is sought with all of his heart, he WILL be found. The absolute faithfulness of God is the basis to believe in His interventions.
We might ask the question: “Does God really hear our petitions?” The Apostle John answers this question by writing: “This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if ask anything according to His will, HE HEARS US…and if we know that He HEARS us, whatsoever we ask, we KNOW that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” (1 Jn. 5:14-15)
Dear Father, It is the will of God that we seek You, but also, FIND you. Give us grace to look earnestly in Your word where you are very clear about this. You WILL be found by those who seek you with all their hearts. Strengthen our hearts ask, seek, and knock for certainly, you will not turn us away. We thank You in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad