1 Chronicles 16: 11 « Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually. »
Psalm 69 : 32 « The humble shall
see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.»
Matthieu 6 : 33 « But seek
ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall
be added unto you. »
This text is
intended to encourage those who have realized that they have been seeking God
not for who He is, but for what He can give them to satisfy their desires. It
is for those whose behavior suggests that they are Christians, but whose hearts
are, in reality, turned toward material things and not toward Christ. So,
instead of seeking God as the Creator of all things, as the Lord, as their Father,
they seek a matchmaker for marriage, a bank/sponsor/donor for finances, an
employment agency for work, a star maker for popularity. This world makes us so
materialistic that we seek to impress others more than to please God. So, this
message will certainly touch me too...it certainly concerns me too. Indeed, the
pursuit of these things often makes us forget what we were created for...to
worship God. But to worship God, we must be constantly in His presence and,
above all, in a position of contemplation. But how can we contemplate Him if
our eyes are turned elsewhere and we do not even look at Him? Most of us no
longer live the Christian life renewed by the Spirit. Instead, we are
influenced by what we see, hear, and touch in this world. This brings us back
to the imperfections of the "old man" that we thought we had been
stripped of. Therefore, we indulge in everything contrary to the fruits of the
Spirit. (Ephesians 4 : 17-19).
But since, when
we said yes to Christ, we also agreed to live only for Him and through Him. We
must therefore, like Him, constantly seek to do the Father's will and be
pleasing to Him. And to do that, we must be in communion with Him, which is
only possible if we seek Him with all our hearts. For who would want to stay
where they are not wanted? But our flesh cannot naturally desire spiritual
things. Hence the importance of letting ourselves be guided by the Spirit and
not by the flesh. How can we achieve this?
1.
Start fasting and
praying for spiritual purposes.
We are generally more inclined to fast in times of trouble. For many of
us, fasting consists only of depriving ourselves of something in order to
receive something material in return. However, there is such a thing as fasting
in worship... A type of fasting during which we ask nothing of God and ensure
that our spirit is in a constant state of contemplation in order to worship
God. We must learn to pray and fast
simply because we desire God's presence.
Psalms 22:3 « But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises
of Israel. »
2.
Seek God's interest
first in our plans
Seeking God also means seeking His interest in everything we do so that
all aspects of our lives glorify Him. We can do this by asking ourselves questions such as: How could the career I am
pursuing be useful to God's work? How can I use my abilities and finances to support
evangelism? How can I make each member of my family an effective servant of God?
How could my marriage be useful to Christ's mission, and therefore what kind of
spouse would be suitable? How can I help others? How could I use my charisma and leadership skills
to evangelize and bring souls to Christ ? etc.
1 Peter 4 : 11 « If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of
God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth:
that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise
and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
3. We need to love meditating on God’s Word
Seeking God also means seeking to know His thoughts and listening to His
voice. But how can we know His thoughts or discern His voice if we don't know
His language? How can we accustom our minds to communicating with Him if not
through His Word? This can only be done by meditating on the Bible. Let us
learn to love the truth found in it, desire to understand the truth, and renew
our minds through it.
Psalm 119 : 11 « Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I
might not sin against thee. »
