The decision to seek God

Very rarely do people begin the journey to seek God when they are comfortable. Most likely people seek God when things become difficult and people begin to realize that something is not right in their lives. Change is difficult and costly. We will only change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing.

This was foreseen by the Lord from the beginning with His people. “After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and provoking him to anger, I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.” (Deuteronomy 4:25–28, NIV84) People can dwell happily for a long time in the land and in their comfort begin to lose their moral compass. In their comfort, they lose the sight of the path of holiness, righteousness and the intimacy with God that God has always intended. In their wanderings away from the commands of God, they wander away from God and also from the protection and blessing of God. They begin to suffer the consequences of evil.

As people begin to suffer from the consequences of unrighteousness, they begin to see the need to seek God. The grace of God always provides for repentance and a place to begin to seek God. “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.” (Deuteronomy 4:29–31, NIV84)

The people who had lost their way are told the begin to seek God. They are told to seek God with all their heart. This means that they are undivided in their decision to seek God until they find Him. To seek God with all of the heart means there will be no room in the heart for anything that does not seek God. The decision to seek God is the decision to once again obey God. In this decision to seek God, God promises the people that indeed He will be found.

We seek God the way God has decreed through His word. We seek God by giving to God. “But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you. You are not to do as we do here today, everyone as he sees fit,” (Deuteronomy 12:5–8, NIV84) We cannot seek God except by obedience to His Word.

We seek God by beginning to thank God. We call on God in prayer. We begin to speak about Him. We worship Him and we praise Him. We look to God and not our own strength. We seek God for who He is; we seek His face and not what we want Him to do for us. We remember as we look in His Word what He has done both the miracles and the judgments and we expect that He will do so for us. “Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, O descendants of Israel his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.” (1 Chronicles 16:8–13, NIV84)

We seek God by establishing our hearts and souls in devotion to God. We seek God by making room for Him to dwell in our lives. We seek God by participating in the church and building the corporate body of God. “Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the sacred articles belonging to God into the temple that will be built for the Name of the Lord.”” (1 Chronicles 22:19, NIV84)

We seek God in humility. We acknowledge our sins. We lay down our pride and our strength and admit we cannot live without God and He is our creator and worthy of our lives alone. “if my people, who are called by my name, will 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. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.” (2 Chronicles 7:14–15, NIV84)

We seek God in purity and in holiness. We turn aside from evil and wickedness and sin and embrace holiness and righteousness. “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.    Selah” (Psalm 24:3–6, NIV84)

We seek God and God alone. We seek God for the sole reason that we can be with Him. We do not seek God for a personal agenda of gain. “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4, NIV84)

We seek God first with a decision of the heart. From the decision of the heart will come the actions of our lives. “My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.” (Psalm 27:8, NIV84)

We seek God by deciding to obey His Word. “Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.” (Psalm 119:2, NIV84) We establish through our obedience God’s Word in our hearts and lives and begin to live holy lives. “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:10–11, NIV84)

We seek God at the time when we realize that only God has the answers we need. We forsake the evil and turn to the good. “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” (Isaiah 55:6–7, NIV84)

We seek as the first and only priority of our lives God alone. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33, NIV84)

We seek God by placing our trust and hope in God. “Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.” (Psalm 9:10, NIV84)

God waits for people to seek him. “The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.” (Psalm 14:2, NIV84)

Today is a good day to begin to seek God.

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