God's Word promises that all who do indeed seek God "earnestly" will find Him. "Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matt. 7:7). "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). However, it also says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found..." (Isaiah 55:6a). "He that comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). So God does promise to reward the sincere seeker and not the mere trifler.
Some say that they are glad so many people are "seeking God" as they read the best-seller The Shack, but the Word says, "There is none who seeks God" ( Rom. 3:11b). Martin Luther says, "To say: man does not seek God is to say: man cannot seek God." They are seeking the benefits, not the Benefactor. They are in reality running away from God and hiding from Him like Adam in the garden. Isaiah 65:1b says, "I was found by those who didn't seek Me." "The search for God begins at salvation, it doesn't end at salvation," according to R. C. Sproul. Seeking God is the main business of the Christian's life, says Jonathan Edwards.
The reward is not money, fame, fortune, prosperity, or anything material, but God Himself--He is the reward. "I am thy great and precious reward," said God to Abraham (cf. Ps. 73:26). Some people think that sincerity impresses God and that He rewards all who are sincere in their religiosity. God is no man's debtor and seeks out those whom He wills and chose in eternity past. We get none of the glory or credit, not even the bragging rights to say we sought God-we cannot pat ourselves on the back at all. You have to be sincere, but that in itself does not obligate God. Many a Muslim is sincere and fanatical to boot. God owes no man and is obliged to save no man, but all is grace. Soli Deo Gloria!
Some say that they are glad so many people are "seeking God" as they read the best-seller The Shack, but the Word says, "There is none who seeks God" ( Rom. 3:11b). Martin Luther says, "To say: man does not seek God is to say: man cannot seek God." They are seeking the benefits, not the Benefactor. They are in reality running away from God and hiding from Him like Adam in the garden. Isaiah 65:1b says, "I was found by those who didn't seek Me." "The search for God begins at salvation, it doesn't end at salvation," according to R. C. Sproul. Seeking God is the main business of the Christian's life, says Jonathan Edwards.
The reward is not money, fame, fortune, prosperity, or anything material, but God Himself--He is the reward. "I am thy great and precious reward," said God to Abraham (cf. Ps. 73:26). Some people think that sincerity impresses God and that He rewards all who are sincere in their religiosity. God is no man's debtor and seeks out those whom He wills and chose in eternity past. We get none of the glory or credit, not even the bragging rights to say we sought God-we cannot pat ourselves on the back at all. You have to be sincere, but that in itself does not obligate God. Many a Muslim is sincere and fanatical to boot. God owes no man and is obliged to save no man, but all is grace. Soli Deo Gloria!
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