Seeking God?

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!

Living Relationship With Christ

In regards to having a relationship with Christ, I would like to explain a few things. This is a cliche that isn't in the Bible. Walking with God is and fellowship with Christ is, though. When we are born again we have a positional relationship with Christ of course that doesn't change (We are "in Christ" as the Bible says, which means we are justified once and for all), but to maintain our "walk" we need to have no unconfessed or unjudged sin in our lives that God convicts us of. We need to trust and obey, doing nothing that we couldn't invite Him to do with us.

When we present the gospel we are not presenting a formula or a prefabricated prayer to say to become a Christian, but a person to respond to and to get to know. Christianity is the only religion that one can have personal knowledge (we can know Him, but not comprehend Him, since He is infinite and we are finite) of God, and God knows and loves us personally. Islam, of course, is impersonal and fatalistic. Islam means "submission" and Kismet is an impersonal fate. They think God is too great to know them individually, but au contraire! It's not that we know God, but that He knows us, that's vital though (Gal. 4:9). "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God...."

I am asked, "How is your prayer life?" and it is something I pray that God will improve. I don't need more books to inspire me to pray, because I know the basic doctrines--I just need to discipline myself and take the time to "practice the presence of God" as Bro. Lawrence talked about (He can be with us in the most mundane, humdrum activities). Take time to be holy! Time spent in prayer is time well invested. It fortifies us spiritually. Someone wise has said, "Satan laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when he sees the weakest saint on his knees!" I don't know how, but there's power when we get on our knees, according to the song.

God's usual way of speaking to us is through His Word, but our communion with Him can be jeopardized by bad relationships with fellow Christians. No one can say he is an island and that it doesn't matter what kind of relationships he has with people. Even broken fellowship with one's spouse can hinder prayer. So let's strive to be in fellowship with God and our fellow believers. In seeking God we find that the reward is not material things, but God Himself ("I am thy exceeding great reward" Gen. 15:1).   Soli Deo Gloria!