Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to ask you little question.
Have you ever misplaced something that was really important to you? Maybe you use it all the time during your day, but then it went missing. What actions did you take? Did you search for a few minutes and then give up, or did you spend hours on end until you finally found it? Out in the world today, there are many people whose job it is to search for others, such as the Coast Guard, search and rescue units, emergency crews and even the military. They are professional seekers, as there duty is to go out there and find people. A few sailors might be lost somewhere in a storm, or a fishing vessel has capsized and people have gone overboard. Whenever the call comes in that someone is missing, there job is to go and find them. They might send out hundreds of people, and dozens of airplanes in order to cover huge areas. Their search might require many days of their efforts, even depriving themselves of food and sleep. But no matter what it takes, they will continue to search diligently, until they finally locate them.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
The qualities these people exhibit are the same types of qualities that a Christian must possess. In the same way they diligently search for others, we must search diligently for God!
“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
How hard do you really seek after God? Moses is a prime example of a man who’s heart desired to be near His creator. He wanted to find God so much, that the entire world around him became completely irrelevant. The treasures of Egypt meant nothing to Him in comparison to the treasures of Christ. Prophets in the old Testament would live in deserts and in caves just so they could be completely isolated and focused on God. How seriously have you devoted your life to seeking the Lord?
Think about a team of marshalls who are chasing after a suspect. They put forth a determined and energetic effort to find where the person is. They are completely focused on tracking them down, and won’t give up chasing after them until they are finally apprehended. This is the same attitude by which we must seek after God. It must be an all-consuming passion, not allowing anyone or anything in this world to get in the way of being in His presence.
“When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.” Psalms 27:8
How many times have you heard about young children who walked away from home and got lost in the nearby woods. After a short period of time, the parent became frantic, not knowing where they were, and quickly assembled all of their neighbors and friends to search for the child. They would grab their flashlights and walk in a huge line together, yelling out for the child as they combed every inch of the woods. They would not quit nor give up, until they finally found the child who had fallen asleep under a tree. In the same manner that they sought diligently for the child, we must seek diligently for God. They were looking for him because they loved and cared for him. How much do you love God, and do you love Him enough to seek Him with the same type of earnestness?
“But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29
We seek after the things that we want most in this life, and for a man of God, it is diligently pursuing the things of God. If you were to pull out an old fashioned scale and put God on one side and the things of the world on the other, which side would hit the bottom first? Love is a powerful emotion, but many people put it on all of the wrong things. God must be our first and greatest love, but for a lot of people, maintaining a close relationship with Him is running a distance second.
Luke 14 ¹⁸ And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. ¹⁹ And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. ²⁰ And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
The hearts of many people have been turned away from God because their truest love are the things of this world.
1 John 2 ¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
There were some people who were seeking after Jesus very diligently, and would come from miles around just to hear Him preach. Sometimes they would be out there for days on end, and wouldn’t even leave, sitting on the grass and listening to the Word of God being taught. This is how fervently that they were seeking after Christ. Nowadays, some people will go to a church service, and 45 minutes later they are already looking for the door. They are anxiously tapping there foot because they cannot wait to get out of there to go fishing. But if that is their attitude, then what’s the point of even being there in the first place? I mean after all, your heart isn’t on God, it’s on your fishing boat. God needs to be first, which is why the first commandment is first!
Matthew 22 ³⁶ Master, which is the great commandment in the law? ³⁷ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33
In order to be blessed by God, one must seek Him with their whole heart.
“Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.” Psalms 119:2
Imagine all of the rewards that God could distribute, if people loved Him enough to diligently seek Him.
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
How much do you love God? Do your actions prove the love that you profess? How earnestly are you looking for Him? Consider all of the active searches conducted by all of the professional rescue units in this world. How active is your search for God? After all, a lot of people have been found, simply because of the diligent searches of…..
…….The Coast Guard
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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