I’ve been thinking a lot about seeking God lately. I keep running across this term in my Bible. What does it mean? How do we do this? What are the results if we do this? What if someone who claims to be a Christian is not seeking God? What then? Many questions have come to my mind as I have continually run into this little phrase “seek God”. For, in the end, this is our ultimate concern.
I won’t be answering all of those questions in this post today. I just don’t have the time to do an entire study justice. However, I did want consider this phrase and get us all thinking a bit about what it means. Hopefully, this will get us thinking about what place this ultimate concern holds in our own lives, as evidenced by our daily choices and decisions, both great and small.
I went through the Bible this morning, looking at all the verses in which the word “seek” is used. Many were in reference to seeking God. Others were in reference to specific happenings. And some were in reference to what not to seek. Today, I’d like to take a look at a few of the verses about seeking God and then at a few of the verses about what not to seek. I think this will be a helpful study for me and, hopefully, for you, too. I am not giving the verses in any particular order.
Here are a few things we find from scripture regarding our search for God–
1. If we seek Him, we will find Him.
We are promised in God’s Word that if we search for God, we will find Him. This is a guarantee and not some treasure hunt where we may or may not find the treasure. God has told us that we will find Him, if we seek Him.
But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29)
The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. (2 Chronicles 15:2b )
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)
And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (Luke 11:9)
That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: (Acts 17:27)
2. If we seek God, He will forgive our sins and give us life!
We are also promised forgiveness of sins if we seek God. But, wait a minute, we may think…what about all of those people who are seeking God without knowing Jesus? The answer to this is clear: They aren’t actually seeking the One True God. They are seeking their own manmade god. God has very specifically told us in His Word how we are to seek Him. If we don’t submit to and obey Him, we are not truly seeking Him. This is a very important distinction to make.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. (Psalm 22:26 )
For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: (Amos 5:4)
3. Those who seek God are never forsaken by Him.
God promises never to forsake those who seek Him. Let’s meditate on that promise for just a moment. Isn’t that simply amazing?
And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. (Psalm 9:10)
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)
And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:29-32)
4. If we seek God, we are blessed and we can expect good things from Him.
Life is sometimes hard for God’s children. It is simply not true that we get to bypass trials when we become one of God’s dear children. We still face trials, troubles, disease, persecution, and, yes, eventually, death. I am so saddened when I see Christians believe that we can escape these things if we have “enough faith”. Oh, what a lie from the pit of hell! God has never promised us escape from these things. However, He does promise us blessing and good things. What are these things, if they are not keeping us from trials? We know from God’s Word (and through our own experiences and the testimonies of others) that the blessing and good things come in the form of peace, grace, mercy, and other priceless intangibles. God truly does not forsake those who seek Him.
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. (Psalm 34:10)
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. (Psalm 119:2).
The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. (Lamentations 3:25)
5. Seeking God gives us great cause to rejoice!
Perhaps we do not feel like rejoicing today. Could that mean that we are seeking after our own selfish desires instead of seeking God? Yes, of course, that is what it means. For seeking God will always give us cause for rejoicing. It is sobering for me to think how often I am lacking in joy because of my own selfishness. Anyone else out there relate??
Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. (1 Chronicles 16:10)
Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified. (Psalm 40:16)
Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. (Psalm 105:3)
What else do we find from scripture regarding our seek for God? There are a few important things to consider–
First, we never seek God without Him stirring our hearts. We cannot do it on our own. Romans 3:11 and Psalm 14:1 both tell us that there are NONE that seek after God. John gives further elaboration to this by letting us clearly know that no man can come to salvation unless the Father draws him (John 6:44). This is a hard truth, but it is throughout scripture and we dare not ignore it nor try to change it simply because we don’t like it.
Second, we tend to seek God in our affliction. Hosea 5:15 reminds us of this. How often does a trial or trouble cause us to seek harder after God? These things tend to soften and mold the hearts of true believers.
Third, there will be a time that we cannot seek God. Isaiah 55:6 tells us that we are to seek Him while He can still be found. This must mean that there will be a time when He can’t be found. I have not studied this passage at length but I do know that when death comes, it will be too late to seek Him. It must be done while we still have breath. It is dangerous and exceedingly unwise to put off seeking the Lord because death can strike at any moment.
And, finally, we find in scripture the things that people seek after other than the Lord. These are the things that distract us and keep us from a whole-hearted seeking of God.
People seek after sorcery and signs.
The Word of God is where we learn to know God. But, for so many, this is not enough. Even today someone showed me the testimony of someone who had “encountered Jesus” through a new age method and yet they believe this is actually Jesus. God tells us in His Word that these things are not of Him. He tells us that we shouldn’t need signs. Blessed are they that believe without seeing. Blessed are they that trust in His Word. The Bible is sufficient for all we need in our Christian life. But it doesn’t always “feel good”, does it? It doesn’t always seem like enough to a generation that longs for good feelings and experiences. May we be astute and discerning as we travel the road called “Christianity”, for it is literally overflowing with landmines of heresy and new age practices and, yes, outright sorcery.
Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:31)
A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed. (Matthew 16:4)
People do not seek God because of their pride.
I am not sure there is anything that can kill our search for the One, True God quicker than pride. It is pride that insists that we can stand righteous before God based on our own good deeds. It is pride that says we don’t need a Savior. It is pride that demands its own way of salvation and arrogantly gives its own definition of what living the Christian life looks like. Pride is truly a death blow to a genuine seeking of God.
The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. (Psalm 10:4)
And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this. (Hosea 7:10)
People seek after their own desires rather than seek after God.
Oh, how many people believe that Christianity is all about fulfilled dreams and finding personal purpose? This is not biblical Christianity at all but it is a counterfeit that uses the same terms and names. When we replace seeking God with seeking our own good, we have also replaced true religion for false religion. This comes in many ways. Some seek after the things of this world–fame, popularity, wealth. Others prioritize health, family, even church duties over seeking God. Some just simply love their sin and aren’t willing to give it up. Many love entertainment that God hates and this keeps them from a whole-hearted seeking of God. We all have that one thing we desire that keeps us from seeking God with our whole heart. The key is to be aware and to pray to God for help. We cannot turn our backs on these things without His help.
The following verses remind us that seeking God and seeking self are
absolutely incompatible—
And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. (Mark 4:19)
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. (Romans 6:12)
And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (Galatians 5:12)
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:2-5)
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; (Titus 2:12)
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (James 4:4)
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; (I Peter 2:11)
We will never seek God perfectly. We will fight sin and our fleshly desires for all of our lives. The key is that there is a battle. For no battle signals that there is no life. May we never give up the fight as we strive to seek God with our whole hearts, believing in God’s Word that, in doing so, it will yield much blessing and rejoicing in our lives.
For seeking God is the ultimate concern for all who would claim to know Christ.