#21 WHAT DO YOU SEEK? 8-23-26
The first disciples came to Jesus with questions, curiosity, and perhaps a little uncertainty. John records that when Jesus saw them following Him, He turned and asked a question that reaches far beyond those first disciples. He asks every generation of disciples the same thing: “What do you seek?” (John 1:38).
Notice that Jesus did not first ask them what they knew. He did not ask what they had accomplished. He asked what they wanted. He was getting to the heart of discipleship because what we seek reveals what we love. A man may say many things with his lips, but his pursuit tells the truth about his heart.
The disciples answered, “Rabbi, where are You staying?” Jesus said, “Come and see” (John 1:38-39). They were not merely looking for information about Jesus. They wanted to be where Jesus was. They wanted His presence. And that is where true discipleship begins.
WE SHOULD SEEK HIS PRESENCE
The greatest blessing of Christianity is not merely what Christ gives us. It is Christ Himself. These disciples wanted to know where He was, and Jesus invited them to come and see. The Christian life is not simply learning facts about Jesus from a distance. It is walking with Him.
Moses understood this when he said, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here” (Exodus 33:15). Moses would rather wander with God than arrive somewhere without Him. Heaven would not be heaven if Christ were not there.
Sometimes we seek God’s blessings more than we seek God. We seek answers, but not the Answer. We seek His hand, but not His face. We seek His gifts, but not the Giver. Yet David said, “My soul thirsts for You” (Psalm 63:1). The deepest hunger of the redeemed heart is not for something God possesses. It is for God Himself.
Seek His presence when you pray. Seek His presence when you worship. Seek His presence when you hurt. Seek His presence when you rejoice. Seek Him until the greatest desire of your heart is simply to be near Him.
WE SHOULD SEEK HIS POWER
The disciples did not merely want to know where Jesus lived. They wanted to know who He was. As they stayed with Him, they began to discover His power.
Jesus changes people. He took fishermen and made them fishers of men. He took ordinary men and filled their lives with extraordinary purpose. He took Simon and gave him a new name and a new calling. Andrew met Jesus and immediately went looking for his brother Simon, saying, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41).
When we truly encounter Christ, we do not remain content with the life we had before.
The power of Christ is not merely power to perform miracles. It is power to overcome sin. Power to endure suffering. Power to forgive. Power to love enemies. Power to resist temptation. Power to preach the truth. Power to live faithfully when nobody is watching.
Paul prayed that believers would know “the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19). We need more than human determination. We need divine strength.
The question is not whether we have enough strength within ourselves. We do not. The question is whether we are willing to abide in the One who does.
WE SHOULD SEEK HIS PERFECTION
The disciples came to Jesus because there was something about Him they had never seen before. He was not merely another teacher. He was the One who could say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Christ is the perfect revelation of God and the perfect example of what humanity was created to be. In Him there is no corruption, no deceit, no selfish ambition, no moral defect. He is altogether lovely.
That means we should not merely seek to become better people. We should seek to become more like Jesus.
Paul said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). The goal of discipleship is not simply to know more Scripture, attend more services, or accumulate more religious knowledge. The goal is transformation into the likeness of Christ.
We look at His humility and become humble. We look at His compassion and become compassionate. We look at His purity and desire holiness. We look at His obedience and learn submission. We look at His cross and learn sacrificial love.
The more clearly we see Jesus, the more clearly we see ourselves. And the more clearly we see ourselves, the more deeply we understand how desperately we need Him.
The question Jesus asked those first disciples still hangs in the air today: “What do you seek?”
If we seek the world, the world will never satisfy us. If we seek possessions, possessions will eventually possess us. If we seek applause, applause will eventually fade. If we seek our own glory, we will discover how empty human glory really is.
But if we seek Christ, we find what our souls were made for.
Seek His presence because He is where we belong.
Seek His power because we cannot live the Christian life in our own strength.
Seek His perfection because He is the image into which God is transforming us.
The disciples heard Jesus say, “Come and see,” and they went. That is still His invitation. Come closer. Come follow. Come learn. Come abide. Come and see who He is.
And once we have truly seen Him, may everything else become secondary.
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Lord Jesus, teach us to seek You above everything else. Give us a hunger for Your presence, a dependence upon Your power, and a desire to become like You in holiness, humility, love, and obedience. Keep us from being satisfied with religion without relationship, knowledge without transformation, or blessings without the Blesser. Turn our hearts toward You until our greatest desire is simply to be where You are. Amen.
BDD
