Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)
This is what the Lord says: You will seek
Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.
To seek God is a discipline that the casual, carnal Christian cannot
master. According to Christian researcher, George Barna[1], only
1 out of 7 Christians are truly committed to Christ. In fact, Barna defines the casual Christian
as a spiritually middle-of-the-road believer who is born again, but ambivalent
about his/her faith, moderately active and theologically nominal. The casual Christian is a person who thinks of
himself as a better person than if he were irreligious, yet does not invest
much time and effort in the Christian faith.
Such a person does not view faith as central to his/her purpose or
success in life.
The casual Christian is not a person who will seek God. It takes too much time and effort to seek
God. It takes great devotion to seek the
Lord and most Christians do not have such devotion. It’s just not that important in comparison to
other aspects of life.
Seeking God is
compared to searching for treasure (Proverbs 2:1-5). It cannot be a casual exercise. God promises that you will find Him if you
seek Him with all of your heart. Seeking with all of your heart means that your
total being is focused on having fellowship constantly with the Almighty. You spend quality time daily reading His
Word, praying to Him, listening to Him, worshipping Him, and serving Him
through helping others. Again, you
cannot live a casual Christian life and expect to seek and find God. Perhaps that is why so many Christians feel
unfulfilled and disconnected from God; they have never truly found Him.
Seeking and
finding God takes a dedicated lifestyle, one so few Christians are willing to
assume. We tend not to seek God when our lives are
comfortable. If our temporal needs are
met, we imagine that we can take care of ourselves and we forget about
God. Once you forget about God, there
are serious consequences. People who are
seeking God the most are people who are suffering and find that the world and
its value system cannot help or fulfill their need(s). Only God can perfectly satisfy our hunger and
our thirst, and He is always leading us in the direction of
satisfaction in Him.
God promises many
blessings to those who seek and find Him.
Jesus said that if seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness
you will everything essential you will ever need in your life (Matthew
6:33). Seeking God brings rewards (Psalm
107:9, Hebrews 11:6), joy (Psalms 70:4; 105:3), peace (II Chronicles 14:7; 15:12-15), Revelation
(Jeremiah 33:3) and security (Psalm 27:4-5).
Are you one of
the majority casual Christians who don’t seek the Lord because He is not a
priority in your life or are you one of the minority captive Christians who
seeks diligently through study and prayer and meditation and service every day
to find the peace of mind experience that you have found Him? II Chronicles15:2 declares this truth: “The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with Him!
Whenever you seek Him, you will find Him. But if you abandon Him, He will
abandon you”.
So where is the Lord with
you? Are you His seeker or is your faith
too casual to bother?
[1] George Barna, The
Seven Faith Tribes: Who They Are, What They Believe, and Why They Matter
(Tyndale House, 2009)
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