Seek; Find!

Seek; Find!

Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 AMPC

A little context: today's words were written by the prophet Jeremiah to the people who had been taken as exiles into Babylon. Why were God's chosen people in exile in Babylon? The simple answer is: sin. And if you think it was only the dregs of society that were taken captive, check out the first two verses of today's extract: there were elders, priests, prophets, the queen mother, eunuchs, princes of Judah and Jerusalem, craftsmen and the smiths. Talk about the high and mighty, the low and the forgotten. Sin makes no distinction between your bank account balance or your circle of influence; it will cut you down and render you a mess. It will take you away from a land of plenty, milk and honey into a land of exile. Can I toy with sin and expect that the grace of God will abound? The Bible answers that question with two words of finality: God forbid. 

But you see, that is not where the story ends, thank God. God still sent words of encouragement to the people in exile, that He had not forgotten them. Even in sin, God never forgets you. If He did, ALL of us would be dead. No matter how bad the past or present is, God's arms are open wide, urging us to return to Him. His promises of redemption and restoration have been in place since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, and as He does not lie, you can count on Him to keep His promises. 

Even in exile, false prophets were still sending out messages of hope, which God had not authored. It seems to me that it does not matter where you are; you have to be sensitive to what God is saying to you per time, so you don't hold on to false hopes or convenient lies. God is always speaking; the issue is if we are always listening. There was a set time for the exile to last, and there was nothing, not even prayer, that would change the time. Check out what God said: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and keep My good promise to you, causing you to return to this place. So, God was showing up for deliverance at the end of the set period, and he will cause His people to return to Jerusalem. 

And that is the foundation for today's extract. If God does not leave room, how can anybody call on Him and He hears? If God did not first create the conducive environment for me to approach Him, how can mortal, sinful man approach a Holy God, who punishes sin with death? So, He has created the environment, and laid out the path; all I need to do is to walk the path and make the approach. That is the path that God would not do for me, as He will not force Himself on me, or compel me to do His bidding. My obedience to God has to flow out of a heart that fully appreciates what it has received. My heart becomes the ground zero, from where all that God can do in and through me starts from. God has done His bit; He waits for me to come. It has to be the whole heart, not a part of it. Hypocrisy is the same as outright rejection; it is better to stay away than to come to God with a heart that is not absolutely focused on Him. When I come to Him with my whole heart, I will find Him. That is His promise; have you tried Him out? His time of favour is here.