My subject today is God. An impossible subject to fully explain, fully explore, and fully experience. Nevertheless, I was challenged from the scriptures yesterday morning. I am slowly making my way through Psalm 119 which is the longest chapter in the Bible. My aim when I started reading was to make significant headway through the chapter. I only made it two verses before God spoke.
Here is the verse that captured my heart. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies; who seek Him with all their heart. [Ps 119:2]
Seeking God with our whole heart is more than just a quick prayer or hurried devotion reading before rushing out the door or before falling asleep at night. Don't miss this. God wants to be wanted. He desires to make Himself known. That takes time and serious effort on our part.
The word seek in this passage is pregnant with meaning. It means to inquire. To ask questions. To investigate. Think of a reporter going on the scene of a story and trying to gather as much information as possible before writing the article or reporting on the evening news. We should approach seeking God with the same tenacity to get the full scope of God. He is so much more than we know. It saddens me that a good many Christians are content to be casual acquaintances with God rather than to become closely related to Him. It is the difference in spending time knowing about God or spending time getting to know God. They are not the same.
I am convinced we have multitudes who identify as Christians, but they do not desire public worship, they have little appetite for His word preferring to have their ears tickled, and they barely find time to talk to Him except in crisis situations.
How many reading this would say we are serious students of knowing God. The word seek also means to study. Theology is a word that means the study of God. I have several thousand books in my library. Many of these books are written from a deeper knowledge and study of God than I have ever experienced. I heard a person clarify the difference between theologians of centuries ago to modern authors is that the older guys used to take a few verses and write hundreds of pages about them. The newer guys take multiple verses and typically get less than two-hundred pages. Those older guys knew more of God and reached heights in their walks with Him few today can even imagine.
Our verse exhorts us to not only seek God, but to seek Him with all our hearts. The word all means the whole heart. Every part of the heart. We all know the difference between going through the motions of time with God and going after Him with all our heart. The first takes little effort. The second requires serious concentration, earnest prayer, engaging the mind in deep thoughtful meditation, and taking adequate time to do all those things.
I believe one of the reasons few people seek Him with all their heart is because it takes time. In our past paced, hurried, always on the go, and rushed society, it is not easy to slow down intentionally. Words like quiet, solitude, reflection, meditation, and prayer are in opposition to our lifestyles. These activities force us to slow down. If you really want to know God, it will require long spells shut up alone with Him. Most people either do not have time nor make time to do that.
I asked God to create that desire to seek Him with all my heart in me. I know my nature. I am easily excited and quick to jump into things. When the excitement wears off, the enthusiasm wears thin and I lose the intensity. I plead with God to intensify that longing to seek Him. To not be satisfied with worshiping Him from a distant view. I want to know Him. There is so much to be known. So much more to learn, discover, explore, examine, and investigate.
Take a little time and contemplate His grace. Him giving us what we could never earn or deserve. Let that facet of His character sink in. Ponder His strength and power. Reflect on His love. Redirect to His righteousness, just judgments, omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. We cannot fully grasp the depths of any of those attributes, much less all of them at the same time. We are just skimming the surface. What about His mercy, kindness, tenderness, goodness, compassion, and faithfulness? We are not done. Consider His wrath, indignation, sovereignty, and holiness. There is so much more. How can we not seek Him with our whole heart? There will always be more to learn, higher heights to climb, deep depths to plunge, vast more attributes to explore. It is the journey of a lifetime. One that requires serious seeking with the whole heart. The reward is really knowing the living God and walking in close communion with Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment