‘Seeking God with all your heart’
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, declares the LORD” – Jeremiah 29:13-14a (NIV)
The other day I played ‘hide and seek’ with a two year old, it was really fun. I hid behind a curtain and was calling her name to come and find me. When she eventually did she was so excited she jumped up and down screaming, and so did I. It was an exciting game. God asks us to seek him; the Scripture is full of encouragements to do so. (Deut 4:29; 1Chronicles 22:19; Psalms 105:4; Hosea 10:12; Zephaniah 2:3)
Just like me playing that game with a two year old, God is as excited as we are when we seek Him and find Him. God doesn’t want to hide His face from us. He longs for an intimate relationship with each of us. In the Old Testament God hid His face from people when they were full of rebellion and sin, but revealed Himself to the righteous. God hid His face from Jesus on the cross so that he doesn’t have to hide His face from us.
Through the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ a way has been made for us to have clean hands and pure hearts (Psalms 24:3-4). He has made a way for us to come into His presence, to look upon His face. The curtain has been torn in two from top to bottom, the barrier has been removed. In my game of ‘hide and seek’ I hid behind the curtain for as long as I could, but now God stands in the open calling our name allowing us to find him.
If we seek the Lord with all our hearts we will find him, it is a promise. If my two year old friend hadn’t of put her whole heart into playing ‘hide and seek’ it wouldn’t have been as exciting. The aim of the game wasn’t to stop her from finding me; the aim was to see her excitement when she did. Let’s determine to be a people who continue to seek the Lord with all our hearts, checking our dedication, and enjoy the excitement of when we find Him. God calls us, and we come running wholeheartedly to find Him standing before us.
“Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!” (Psalms 34:10b)
Nathan Whillans
