Seek | Moved
Monday— You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
What does it mean to “seek” God? In the Bible, this word is almost always followed by an adverb such as carefully or diligently. It means more than look. You would look for a cheerio you dropped on the floor. But you would diligently seek your lost child. You might look for your shirt in the hamper, but you would seek your lost credit card. God used this word on purpose because He’s not a cheap deity standing on the street corner with a carboard sign: Someone please be my friend. He’s worth seeking.
But how do you seek an invisible God and how do you know if you found Him? There are several ways:
- He gave us a road map we call the Bible. Clues about who He is and how we find Him fill its pages.
- He gave us His Son who said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. I and the Father are one” (John 14:9).
- His Holy Spirit reminds us of Jesus’ words (John 14:26) and draws near when we draw near to Him (James 4:8).
- He promises to hear our prayers when our desire is to align our lives with His purposes (John 15:7).
God is not running from us. He invites us to come to Him—but not halfheartedly. We must seek with our whole hearts.
Challenge: If you’re finding it hard to reach God, seek Him with your whole heart in the ways He’s provided. You’ll find Him.
Prayer: God, I don’t want anyone to know this, but sometimes I’m not sure I’ve found you. You seem a million miles away. But maybe I’m not seeking with my whole heart and you know it. I’m ready. No holding back. Here I come. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Tuesday— Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts. Isaiah 55:6-7
He’d heard the sermon, felt conviction, but walked out of the service unchanged. She’d read the Bible verses her friend gave her, understood what she needed to do, but set it aside and went to the casino. “I’ll get saved when I’m through having fun,” is the mindset of thousands. They live under the illusion that salvation is something THEY will achieve when they’re good and ready. THEY can tell God what to do and when to speak to them—and Satan loves this attitude. Part of his deception is to convince humans that we are in charge of our own lives, including our spiritual lives. This verse should be a wakeup call.
“While he may be found” implies that there are times when God WON’T be found. Jesus said that no one can come to Him unless the Father first draws them (John 6:44). So those internal nudges when truth is proclaimed, that sense of conviction during a worship song: those do not come from us. The Holy Spirit is giving us a chance to respond rightly. But He won’t always do that. If we refuse to seek when we can and ignore His voice when we hear it, we may exclaim one day, “You know, I don’t even feel guilty about ______anymore. I know the Bible says it’s sin, but I think me and God have an understanding. I’m not worried about going to hell. I know I’m a Christian.” Guilt disappears, conviction melts away, and we imagine God smiling at us, never realizing we’ve replaced God’s voice with Satan’s. A false sense of security while disobeying God is a dangerous place to be.
Challenge: Are you seeking God while He may be found? The someday you’re waiting for may never come.
Prayer: Lord, this makes me nervous. Conviction fell on me as I saw myself in this illustration. I do ignore your voice at times. I brush off your conviction. Please forgive me. I humble myself and ask for another chance to obey. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Wednesday— “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matt. 7:7
“COOL!” says the casual Bible reader. “Jesus said I will get anything I pray for. Sweet! Let’s see…a better job, a new house, cooler car, hot spouse, a…” Hold on, Carl. Is that what this means? Is Jesus handing us all a blank check? If you’ve read more than two verses in the Bible, you know that’s not what He’s saying. Jesus was talking about seeking God in a saving relationship. Those words cancelled the religious establishment’s list of 613 Rules for Impressing God. The religious elite had everyone convinced that you had to be in Who’s Who to reach God. But Jesus said anyone who sought Him found Him.
This is where Timid Ted slides his hand into the air. “Um, I’ve tried to do that,” he whispers. “I asked and sought and knocked and nothing happened.” Why did nothing happen? Most likely Ted had the door bolted shut from his side. He wanted what God offered but insisted on a co-God arrangement. Won’t work. God reads our hearts like we read our texts. Our lips may be asking for God but our heart is adding, “…however I don’t want to do this or obey that or…” There’s so much holding out on our part, there is little room for Him. When we ask, seek, and knock, we do so empty-fisted, openhearted, and seeking whatever answer God provides. His answers may not look like what we expected, but if we asked with right motives, they’ll be perfect
Challenge: We can ask, seek, and knock with confidence when our hearts are ready to obey whatever is behind that door.
Prayer: Lord, I’ve asked with wrong motives and knocked with hesitation because I wasn’t sure I wanted what you had to tell me. I‘m ready to change that now. I repent of everything and ask for a fresh filling of your Spirit. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Thursday— The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46
“Sold everything he had.” What a statement! What would have to be at stake for you to sell everything you have to pay for it? It’s a stunning thought and it is supposed to be. Jesus is driving home the value of what He offers. Snippets of talk about God don’t always give us the whole picture: He loves us…wants a relationship with us…Jesus died on the cross for our sins…etc. But we still don’t get it. MVP recipients and rap artists are treated with more reverential awe. We raise a hand, pray a prayer, get dunked, and tell people we’re Christians. But it costs us nothing. We’d rather continue to be our own boss with Jesus as our Sidekick. He said “Not so.” The kingdom of heaven is a divine paradox: a free gift that costs us everything we are.
“Wait a minute!” comes the shout. “You can’t earn your salvation.” Absolutely right. Nothing we can do comes close to the value of what God offers. But in the kingdom of heaven, we don’t barter—we obey. The merchant recognized the value of what he’d found and knew it was worth everything to possess. Unless we value the kingdom of heaven that way, we can’t be part of it. We’re still part of Satan’s kingdom and there’s no dual citizenship. It’s worth everything we are to become children of God.
Challenge: “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” –-Jesus (Matthew 10:39)
Prayer: Jesus, do I truly value the gift you’re offering me? Do I live like I value you more than things in this world? Your kingdom is forever, so anything I have to lose to gain it is worth it. Take all of me. I’m yours from now on. Amen.
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Friday— Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Psalm 105:4
“I can’t wait for you to meet my dad,” Charlotte said to her roommate as she unlocked the front door of her parents’ home. “He gets me so many cool gifts!” She breezed through the living room with a “Hey, Dad, meet Deb,” and right out the back door. Her father stood in the middle of the room, his face pained. “Hello, honey,” he mumbled but no one heard it. His daughter and her friend were already in the garage, exclaiming over her new car. “It gets 40 miles to the gallon and oh…get this! The color is custom. Only 200 cars in the nation are this color. Now, check out my new iPhone Dad got me!” And on it went while the giver of those gifts stood alone in his house, homesick for his little girl. It wasn’t him she wanted; it was what he could give her.
Often, what we call “seeking God” is actually seeking what He can do for us. We breeze right past fellowship, conversation, and deeper understanding to get to the answers we want. “Help me with this, fix that, give me this and not that…” And on it goes while the Giver of those gifts is left behind, feeling homesick for his children. He knows it’s not really Him we want, but what He can do for us. One reason God remains elusive to the masses is because they don’t realize who they’re talking to. Unless we come to Him in the right spirit, He stays aloof. He won’t be bossed around or manipulated, so until we learn to seek Him for Himself, He may not be there when we come with our demands. Seeking God means seeking the Person, not the gifts.
Challenge: When you seek God, is it His presence you crave or what He can do about your situation?
Prayer: Father, I’m guilty of only seeking you when I need something. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to find you. Please forgive me for trying to use you like a Genie instead of valuing the high honor of enjoying your company. In Jesus’ name, amen.