Seek the Lord

“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.” Isaiah 55:6-7

In today’s world, the demands on our time can feel overwhelming. For most of us, our jobs demand more time than we are able to give, and as our families grow, so do our responsibilities at home. When a pastor like myself inserts, “Oh yeah, God should be the center of all you do”, I realize how frustrating that can seem, especially for those who are living life at a neck-breaking pace.

Do you know what I have found? When you get God straight, everything else straightens out from there. Why would we try to complete the demands of life without the help of the Lord? What makes us think we can handle life’s pressures without our Creator? I would like to share with you three ways you can actively seek the Lord, whether you are at work or home, seeking the Lord will pay off big time as the years roll by. These are not my opinions. Instead, they are Biblical truths that will not fail.

Seek God’s Kingdom
Matthew 6:33, Jesus encourages us to “…Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to your life.” The first question I ask when I read this verse is, “What things will be added to my life?” The answer is in the previous verses. Jesus is telling us that we shouldn’t be anxious or worried about the very things in life we worry about…things like money and food and daily living.

Do you know what the word “worry” means? It literally means to strangle. Some of us strangle ourselves to death worrying. Jesus is telling us in Matthew 6 to not worry about anything. Why? Read verse 32, “…your Father in Heaven knows you need them all.” All of what? All the basic necessities of this life, things like money, food, and clothing.

So how do we seek “the Kingdom?” What is the Kingdom of God? I find it amazing that Jesus spent His time on the earth preaching the Kingdom of God. You find the message of the Kingdom laced throughout the entire Gospels and woven through his parables. Even when He appeared to His disciples, you know what He chose to talk to them about? You guessed it, the Kingdom! “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”

Isn’t that incredible? Of all the things Jesus chose to speak about, He chose the kingdom of God. So how do we define the kingdom of God? Biblically, the kingdom of God is the reign and rule of Jesus in the hearts of His people. So see how amazing this is.

Take a lost sinner who has never acknowledged Jesus in his life. He hears the gospel and the Holy Spirit draws him to Christ. When he submits himself to the Lordship of Jesus, repents of his sins, it’s then that the kingdom of God is being exercised! When a Christian chooses to let go of bitterness and forgives someone that is the kingdom of God being exercised! When someone puts their faith in God that He is who He says He is and can do exceedingly and abundantly above what they can ask or think and they begin living a life of faith, that is the kingdom of God being exercised! It is a beautiful transformation to see in people’s lives.

As a pastor, I get to see this transformation all the time. People who once didn’t care what God thought of their life and now they are living to honor and glorify Christ. That’s the Kingdom of God at work. So to “seek first the kingdom of God” means that we desire God to rule and reign in our hearts. We desire His will above our own. We begin to live to the glory of God.

Seek Things Things Above
Put on the new self if then you have been raised with Christ; seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4).

A few weeks ago I heard American author and pastor, Greg Laurie, challenge the old saying, “Some are so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.” I’ve heard that saying my entire life. But he brought up a great point. He began to talk about how in our day, Christians never think about heaven. All we live for is this earth. Now the saying should be, “Some are so earthly minded, they are no heavenly good!”

Paul tells us that we should set our minds on things above. What does he mean by this? I think he is saying we should seek eternal things. Rather than spending all of our energies and efforts on things of this world, we should be trying to invest in eternity.

You know when I saw this idea first hand? I had taken a group of 21 to Cairo, Egypt on a mission trip. While on that trip we visited the Cairo Museum, one of my favorite places on the earth. We all marveled at King Tut’s Exhibit. The jewelry and gold were remarkable. King Tut was very young when he died and you can still see all of his treasure on this earth today. After spending some time at the museum, we visited the American missionary cemetery in Old Cairo district. So many missionaries who had given their lives in sharing the gospel among Egyptians. I remember one grave stone saying, “He carried the cross for over 40 years through the Nile Valley.” I stood there thanking God for his faithful ministry.

Then we found the resting place of a young man who has held a special place in my heart for years. He was a wealthy American missionary named William Borden from Chicago, Il. He was a millionaire in the early 1920’s. He left everything to follow Christ. He was in Egypt a few weeks when he contracted spinal meningitis and died at the age of 25. His tombstone share the Gospel in Arabic. He left every penny of his millions to global missions.

Unlike King Tut, we can’t see William Borden’s treasure. It is in Heaven. Peter described such treasure in 1 Peter 1:4, “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heave for you.”

William Borden chose to seek the things in life that are above. Also unlike King Tut, William is enjoying his investment to this very day. What’s the point? Don’t live for things on this earth. They won’t last. Even worse, they may outlast you! Long after you’re gone, your stuff may just be sitting like King Tut’s. Learn from William Borden and give your all to Jesus Christ!

Seek God’s Face
2 Chronicles 7:14 is a wonderful promise for God’s people. It says, “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Consider what it is to enjoy the face of God? Those of you who have had small children, you know the joy of them grabbing your face to get your attention. I love it when my little girls want me to listen to them so much that they jump in my lap and grab my face in their small hands. I take joy in that as a parent.

Imagine the joy it brings the Lord when we seek His attention, we seek His counsel. We say to the Lord, “Unless You bless my life, unless You help me, what help do I have, Oh Lord?” I think it means a great deal to the heart of our Father when we make seeking His face a priority. Read the Biblical benefit of seeking the face of the Lord in Numbers 6:24-26, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.”

Could you imagine how different your life would be if the Lord lifted His countenance upon you? How can we let the cares of this life bring us down if the countenance of the Almighty is upon us? How can we feel alone if we know His face is shining upon us? What is the result of seeking the face of the Lord? According to Numbers 6:24, the Lord will give us peace.

Is that what you are so desperately needing right now? As we all know, money cannot buy peace. Friends, relationships, new starts cannot bring us peace. The only One who can give us peace is the Prince of Peace Himself, Jesus! Call upon Him and seek His face with your whole heart. I promise, you will not be disappointed!