Courting Christ: Seek, Find, Seek Some More

“You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you…and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile. - Jeremiah 29:13-14 (NASB)

The prophet Jeremiah had an incredible relationship with the Lord God. He was the beneficiary of direct revelation, visions, prophecies…and yet he is known as “the weeping prophet.”

Why? He lived in an age where rampant immorality, hypocrisy within the true religion and tolerance for many false religions reigned. In his day, ministers looked for the highest paying position and politicians sought their own good rather than the good of their people. It was a time of war and fear. Sound familiar?

Jeremiah had the unenviable job of telling the people what they were doing wrong and what God was going to do about it. He prophesied the downfall of their country and of terrible dark times that lay ahead of them. But in the middle of all the doom and gloom, God chose to speak directly to His people through his prophet. He gave them (and us) the secret to a restored relationship with the Sovereign King of Kings.

What did God say our approach to devotions should be? To seek Him, find Him and then seek Him more with our whole hearts.

As a result we will find the Lord. He will restore our fortunes. We will be gathered in and find the fellowship and unity we seek and we will be rescued from our exile.

Olympic athletes never tire of trying to shave a little more time off their record. Artists never tire of honing their craft. Our pursuit of God must become a passion. Like David, our souls must follow hard after God, even as His hand is upholding us[1]. We can never take credit for the process. It is God who first draws us. It is God who upholds us.

We must respond to the drawing of the Holy Spirit[2] like a young bride answers the call of her lover. We must be like the lover who draws his loved one into an embrace. He has “captured” his loved one, but continues seeking to “capture” them even more.

You can go a long time without food – but you will go down after only a couple days without water. Our need for God must become a thirst, a real biological imperative. To go a day without God’s presence and conversation is to go without life.

Today, we are taught to be satisfied by our salvation; as though birth without continuous growth and maturation is sufficient.

But God is calling us to a holy dissatisfaction.

[1] Psalm 63:8
[2] John 6:44