SEEKING GOD
The Bible has a lot to say about seeking God and promises great benefits to those who do. We will never seek God in vain. If we seek Him, we will find Him (Jer. 29:13).
But what does this mean? How do we “seek” God. Well, we first have to believe that this is what we are supposed to do. This is the purpose of humanity. Paul said to his pagan listeners in Acts 17 that God created us so that we would “seek after Him and perhaps find their way to Him—though He is not far from any one of us” (v. 27). God created us so that we would seek Him and find Him. So we are here to seek God, and if we do, we will find Him.
But again, what does that mean? God is not hiding from us. God is not lost. So what does the Bible mean by “seeking” God?
To wrap our minds around it, we must realize two things: It is our duty as created beings to do so, and it has to be a simple concept. God does not deal in riddles and puzzles when it comes to what He wants from us.
Every part of the Bible teaches us to put God above all things. We do that today by honoring and serving and loving His Son Jesus Christ. So seeking God has to be another way of saying prioritizing things correctly, with God at the top of the list. Jesus is to have the preeminence in every part of our lives (Col. 1:18).
Seeking speaks of something that is done diligently. There can be no halfhearted attempts here. We are promised that we will find Him if we seek Him “with all of our heart.” To seek God is to put all of our passion and energy into pursuing an intimate relationship with Him. It means realizing why we are here and living accordingly. Heart, mind, soul and body must all be engaged in a sustained relationship of seeking God.
To seek God means to turn our backs on sin (2 Chronicles 7:14). You cannot seek God and go in the direction of sin at the same time. We have spent our lives as sinners seeking to fulfill the desires of the flesh. That is what comes naturally to us. To seek God, we must turn away from all that is evil and begin to be concerned about God’s will, His feelings, the things He wants from us. We are created for our good and God’s glory.
Turning our lives over to God through Jesus Christ is what it means to seek God. We cannot please God without faith (Heb. 11:6), and this faith must be placed entirely in Christ the person and what God has accomplished through Him. It is impossible to please God without faith, because without faith, we will not seek Him.
But if we seek Him, we will be rewarded by Him (Heb. 11:6). The Hebrews writer speaks of “diligently” seeking Him. And that is what we must do. It must be the aim and desire of our lives.
Pursuing God or seeking God is, of course, a metaphor. God is not far from any of us (Acts 17:27). But the concept has to do with seeking intimacy with Him. Desiring to grow closer to Him. And doing whatever is necessary in our lives, making whatever sacrifices we have to make, in order to be close to the one who gave us life.
We are seeking to know Christ in a deeper, more meaningful way. We want to learn about Him so that we can appreciate Him and draw near in our union with Him (James 4:8).
If we “seek His kingdom first,” then everything else in our lives will be taken care of and will fall into place (Matt. 6:33). But he must be sought first. That is the priority of the matter. He will not take second place to anything or anyone. He is God and the only proper place for God is in the top position.
When Jesus said to “seek the kingdom of God first” (Matt. 6:33), He meant to seek the rule of God and the reign of God in our hearts and lives. This is another way of saying growing closer to Jesus and submitting more of our lives to Him. When we do that, we will find Him. That is, we will have the fulfillment that we seek, and we will be close to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bryan Dwayne Dunaway
