SPIRITUAL GROWTH ENHANCERS
Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Isaiah 55:6 NASB
SEEK THE LORD CONTINUALLY
Dear beloved, it will interest you to know that heaven is closer to you than you think. God is nearer to you than you can ever think or imagine.
Over here, we have been admonished to seek the Lord our God continually, at all times, on all occasions and in every situation that is asking us where our God is?
What Does It Mean To Seek The Lord
The Complete Jewish Bible renders it this way: "Seek ADONAI while he is available, call on him while he is still nearby".
What does this verse really mean? We need to examine these word in the original language. The word for seek in Hebrew is 'daresh' which has the idea of seeking, visit, frequent, search, inquire and consult.
The Greek equivalent is "anazeteo" meaning "to seek carefully and diligently". This word is used often when searching for a human being, implies difficulty in the effort. Anazeteo is used to describe the kind of search Joseph and Mary endured when they lost Jesus (see Luke 2:43-44).
It is interesting that the verb seek is in Qal imperative (command) form. This is a command. We have been commanded to seek the face of the Lord and for this matter we've got no choice than to oblige.
Why Seek The Lord
1. God is available for a short time
This verse is mind blowing and always mystifies me whenever I came across it. This is because to seek the Lord while He may be found suggest that there will be a time He cannot be found. God seems to be saying that He is only available for a short time.
2. He Is Only Approachable For A Short Time
Then call upon Him while He is near. Does that mean He is not always near? Since God is everywhere all the time, why do we need to seek Him? I thought he was omnipresent, everywhere.
Of course, He was and He is omnipotent, omniscience and omnipresence. But a time is coming when He is no longer available and approachable to us.
God is never lost or missing! Seeking is discovering more about God by inquiring of Him, pursuing a deeper relationship with Him.
God not always approachable despite being omnipresence? I guess that should be at the end of things when we have exhausted our grace period and Jesus might have come and gone.
It could be when we didn't turn away from our sins to seek the face of the Lord and we die in our sins.
It could be too late when we didn't forsake our bad ways and backslidded life to seek the face of the Almighty and eventually we die in our deplorable state of living.
The word near is qarav in Hebrew which means approachable to gain deep knowledge or understanding.
Seek God continually to receive knowledge and understanding so you can live a fulfilled Christian life.
3. We Are In A Dark Time
It is time to seek the face of the Lord because we are undoubtedly in a dark time.
Ephesians 5:15–16 in the King James Version says, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
The phrase redeeming the time is also found in Colossians 4:5: “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (KJV).
In both passages, redeeming the time is related to wisdom in how we “walk,” that is, in how we live.
Why should we apply wisdom in our everyday life? The answer is that we are living in very dark and evil times.
Wisdom demands that we seek the knowledge and face of God continually. We need the wisdom to seek His protection, favour, grace and blessings in all our endeavours.
How Can We Seek The Lord
1. Pray to God Always Jeremiah 29:12-14a
Seek God by calling and praying to Him all the time.
He is a prayer-answering God. He hears us when we speak with Him and call upon His name. He desires to have a personal relationship of Father-sonship with us.
2. Read His Word Everyday. Joshua 1:8
As we read the Bible, God teaches us about Himself and His love for us as well as about our nature and struggles. The Holy Spirit softens our hearts, convicts us, and comforts us. We become familiar with God’s presence and increasingly experience God’s love.
We develop a relationship with God. Regularly reading God's word reorients our thinking so that we can grow in maturity, which is part of the Christian calling (Ephesians 4:14–16; Romans 12:1–2).
3. Worship and serve God wholeheartedly. 1 Chronicles 28:9
We have been created and called to worship and serve the Almighty. We are to do this by singing praises and worship songs to Him continually and forever. We are to be punctual with church activities as we are not to forsake the gathering of the Christian Church.
Seek God by worshipping and serving Him with all heart and with all your soul and with all your body.
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