SEEK, SEEK, SEEK

To seek God is our chief work.  Why?Because mankind was created by God for God.

It may not be what all or most people think.  But it is what God tells us.  He does so at the beginning of the Bible (Genesis 1 & 2).

However what we think and what we do may differ.  You can believe God exists, and that you should seek him, but you don’t.  Those who have faith believe that God exists.  They also believe he rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11.6).

The word seek is important.  It occurs elsewhere in the Bible.  God’s promise is that if we seek him we will find him (Deuteronomy 4.29).  David, faced with great  troubles, sought the Lord (Psalm 63.1).  The Lord Jesus calls all people to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness (Matthew 6.33).

We are told who to seek: the Lord (Psalm 105.4).  We are told  how to seek: earnestly with all one’s heart and soul (see Deuteronomy 4.29; Psalm 63.1)).  We are told what to seek: the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6.33). We are told when to seek: continually (Psalm 105.4).  And we are given a reason to seek: we will find (Matthew 7.7).

The Puritan preacher, Thomas Manton (AD 1620-1677) is right: “The whole course of a Christian” he says, “must be a seeking after God. … this seeking must be our work, our business.”  It must be “the great employment of our lives.”  (Thomas Manton, By Faith, pp329 & 330).

Manton is right for the reason that mankind was made by God and for God.  We can never be truly happy without him.  As Augustine of Hippo (AD 350-430) says: “our hearts are restless until they can rest” in God.

What reward do those who seek God enjoy?  They find him.  God promises that those who earnestly seek him will find him.  The careless and negligent do not enjoy God.  As David says, those who forget God and neglect to seek him shall see their hopes perish for ever (Psalm 9.17f).

What then are we to do?  What are the chief features of a diligent and earnest search for God?

First, those who seek God know that they need him.  They need his strength.  They need his presence (Psalm 105.4).

It is true that God is not far from every person (Acts 17.27).  All people benefit from the effects of his power and goodness.  The earth and the heavens are sustained by the almighty power of God.  The sun shines on the wicked and the righteous.  And also the rain falls on both groups.

But what of God’s favour and grace?  Such are only known and enjoyed by those who seek him.  They find, that after giving them a new spirit, new desires and new affections, God comforts and strengthens them.  Having tasted of the goodness and grace of the Lord they seek more.  The whole life of Christians is a seeking after God.  They want to know him better.  They want more of God in the heart.Secondly, those who seek God know that they are to go on seeking him.  It concerns them when their desire for him wanes and their heart grows cold.  They want to grow in the grace and knowledge of God.  And, as well as knowing him, they want to enjoy him.

One night Jacob wrestled with God (Genesis 32).  It seems that he thought that it was only a man with whom he wrestled (v 24f).  But by the end of the encounter he knew for certain that it was God (v28-30).  And, as Jacob said that he would not let go until he had been blessed (v 26), so they, who truly desire God, keep it as the great aim of their lives not to give up seeking God and his blessing.

Thirdly, those who seek God seek him through Christ.  Those who stand guilty before God, for failing to love him with all their heart, mind, soul and strength, need a mediator.  We cannot go straight into his presence.  We cannot converse directly with him.  There must be a mediator between us and God.  God has provided a mediator for sinners.  He is Jesus Christ.  There is no getting to God except through him.  That is why Jesus told his followers that he alone is “the way, the truth and the life” and that no one can come to the Father except through him (John14.6).

We are slow to accept that outside of Christ we are enemies of God.  We need a new heart with new affections and new desires.  Such is only known by those who rely solely on Christ for acceptance with God.  That is why Martin Luther said that it is a terrible thing to think of God out of Christ.  To those who do not know Christ, God is the judge who condemns.  To those who are united to Christ through faith he is a tender loving Father who will never leave nor forsake them.  He saves “to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Christ” (Hebrews 7.25).  No one shall ever find God except through Jesus Christ.

Fourthly, those who seek God do so in the power of God’s Spirit.  By nature no one loves God; and no one desires communion with him.  As David, the psalm-writer, says, we are all corrupt evildoers who lack knowledge, do not do good, do not call on the Lord, and do not seek God (Psalm 14.2-4).  So how is it that those who do not really care whether God is pleased or displeased with them come to seek him?  The answer is: It is by the Spirit of God.

The Spirit shows us our sinfulness.  He shows us our need of Christ as our mediator.  He shows us who Christ is and what he has done for helpless sinners.  And so he teaches people to seek Christ and makes them willing to embrace Christ with faith.  Those who, in the power of the Holy Spirit, embrace Christ find that he is indeed their mediator.  Through faith they come to enjoy the forgiveness of sin and receive the Holy Spirit.  And the Spirt, as the Spirit of adoption, assures them of access to God at all times through faith in Christ.

Fifthly, those who seek God (and find him) go on seeking him.  They know God made us for himself, and that we can never be happy apart from him.  Thus, though we have domestic and social duties, we also know that we have spiritual duties.  We are to praise God.  It is those who seek him who gladly do that (Psalm 22.26).  And it is those who go on seeking him who enjoy life (Amos 5.6), and have it abundantly (John 10.10).

This is our chief work: to seek God and to do so in an earnest and sincere manner.  We are to diligently seek him.  We are to continually seek him.  But what if you do not quickly find him?  You may draw comfort from the fact that you are seeking him.  To do so is an encouraging sign.  Why is that?  Because by nature not one of us wants to seek the Lord.  The existence of such a desire, accompanied by earnestness and diligence, should encourage you.  It is better to be a seeker rather than a drifter.  Those who seek will find.  They will feel God’s love, be assured of forgiveness, and know the help of the Holy Spirit.  They , and only they, enjoy God.

George Curry  7 May 2017