Seek God & Be Sought By God: Obeying The Magnetic Tug At Your Heart Series

"Bruce Larson tells how he helped people struggling to surrender their lives to Christ:

For many years I worked in New York City and counseled at my office any number of people who were wrestling with this yes-or-no decision. Often I would suggest they walk with me from my office down to the RCA Building on Fifth Avenue. In the entrance of that building is a gigantic statue of Atlas, a beautifully proportioned man who, with all his muscles straining, is holding the world upon his shoulders. There he is, the most powerfully built man in the world, and he can barely stand up under this burden. 'Now that's one way to live,' I would point out to my companion, 'trying to carry the world on your shoulders. But now come across the street with me.'

"On the other side of Fifth Avenue is Saint Patrick's Cathedral, and there behind the high altar is a little shrine of the boy Jesus, perhaps eight or nine years old, and with no effort he is holding the world in one hand. My point was illustrated graphically.

"We have a choice. We can carry the world on our shoulders, or we can say, 'I give up, Lord; here's my life. I give you my world, the whole world.'" -Bruce Larson, Believe and Belong.

Isaiah 55:6-7, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

We can try to run our own lives, our we can let God run our lives. But the weight of the world is too heavy. And we were never meant to live apart from God. We were always meant to live and be guided by God. And then we can fulfill our purposes in life.

We’re talking about the way in which God draws us to Himself. Did you know God is always drawing you toward himself? It’s true.

God was actively drawing us for much of our lives, toward His son Jesus Christ, toward the cross, inviting us to draw near and receive His son Jesus as savior.

As the word says John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

Yet also after becoming a Christian, after coming to know Jesus, we are continuously drawn to our heavenly Father over and over again.

Jeanne Guyon in her book refers to this as the law of central tendency. She says…

“As you come into this deeper level of knowing the Lord, you will eventually come to discover a principle I will call the law of central tendency. What do I mean by the law of central tendency? As you continue holding your soul deep in your inward parts, you will discover that God has a magnetic attracting quality! Your God is like a magnet! The Lord naturally draws you more and more toward Himself.” -Jeanne Guyon, Ch. 11

There is a magnetic draw toward God within me, that much is certain. I will often be playing a videogame, or watching a movie, or doing something, and I will feel the draw to sit down on the floor and begin talking to my God. Or I feel the tug to grab my Bible from the table and open it up and read.

Point number one today is to simply obey that calling when you feel it. As you grow as a Christian more and more you’ll feel the tug to spend time with God. Simply agree with that tug and go spend time with God.

It’s the call of love and fellowship. God wants to be with you. Respond by spending time with Him.

As the word says in Hebrews 10:22 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Draw near to God, with a full heart, loving God with all your heart. And believe Jesus really loves you and wants to be with you too!

Yet there is also a magnetic push away from God as well. For an unbeliever, someone who rejects God, they may spend many years of their lives trying to avoid God. They do everything they can to avoid even the thought of God. Modern society is like that, the concept of God excluded. Watch a sitcom or almost any tv show or sports event, no mention of God is allowed. Go to public school or university, the thought of God is not even allowed. They exclude God, they don’t want to think about God. They are drawn away from God by their flesh.