My family and a few friends and I have just spent the last day in a Bible-type of retreat where we have gotten together to just.. study the word of God and read scripture. There have seldom been times in my life that I count as sweet as this. One of the verses we read today was a passage that I intently studies last summer when enduring a barren time from God's presence, it is the concept of God being found of those who search for him. One of my favorite and most descriptive passages of this is Deuteronomy 29:31:
But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all they heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shall be obedient unto his void; (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, not forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.How beautiful is that? God will be found of them who won't give up seeking him? He.. WANTS us to seek him. He WANTS us to find him. He WANTS us to chase after him as though he is the only thing that matters because... he is. My sister once told the analogy of how God is like a lover. He pulls himself away to see if we're willing to chase him. Just after he gives the ten commandments, God makes the statement that almost sounds like a wish: "O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!"
When I was little, I used to wonder how I could make God happy. It seemed obvious in Sunday school that Jesus was happy when we did good and sad when we did bad, but as I grew older I learned that even if we gave God our all it would STILL never be enough to fulfill our debt and obligation to him. However this verse, it sounds like we CAN give God something that he can't have any other way - by having a sincere and honest desire to keep his commandments and follow his Word. As it turns out though, that IS our all.
I honestly WANT to be that person who chases after God with all that they have with no looking back. I WANT to follow God's commands and have a passion for his Word; to the very point that doing the right thing -eating spiritual food- comes as naturally as eating physical food. While I am sure that this is the cry of many a Christian's heart, I desire to join the ranks with many others and say, yes. Yes, to live as Christ is gain, and I count EVERYTHING else as loss.
"When you said, Seek my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek." Ps. 27:8
LORD give me grace...
