Jeremiah 29:12-13 – Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
THEME OF THE DAY: OUR HUNGER FOR GOD. One of the greatest promises in our Bible appears in today’s scripture – finding God, or knowing God. This is the purpose of our salvation (John 17:3). This is to be our chief pursuit in life (Philippians 3:10). Now before we pull up our spiritual bootstraps to seek the Lord by impulsive zeal soon to fizzle out because it was in the strength of self, something else must come before the effort. We must have a hunger for God. There must be a thirst for Him. And not just a passing hunger or thirst.
If I were to ask, “Do you want to know God better?”, I don’t think anyone would say, “No, Jim. I’m set in my Christian life. I am saved, going to heaven, and find myself rather content with where I am with the Lord.” No Christian would ever profess such a statement revealing a lukewarm heart. However, if we answer my question, “Do you want to know God better?” with words like, “Absolutely, Jim. My heart’s desire is to get as close to the Lord this side of heaven as I can. I want to know Him, enjoy Him, and love Him more and more each passing day”, I would immediately ask, “How are you doing pursuing this hunger and thirst in your life?” The answer you would give me to this question really reveals the answer to the original question, “Do you want to know God better?” Friends, it is never what we profess before one another, a watching world, and an all observant Lord that makes us what we are. It is our profession turned practice that really tells us what we are. And when it comes to knowing the Lord, it requires the greatest of our efforts, the greatest of our resolve to say “no” to the world, and the greatest determination to keep knowing Him the most important thing in life. The criteria is laid forth by our Lord in today’s scripture – “you seek me with all your heart” which means with all that you are and have.
So, how would we know if we have this hunger and thirst for the Lord that is the most important thing in our lives? The story about a young man and the philosopher Socrates vividly illustrates the answer to that question. It goes like this . . .
A young man came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the muscular philosopher and said, “O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge.” Socrates recognized a pompous numbskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to the sea, and into chest deep water. Then he asked, “What do you want?” “Knowledge, O wise Socrates,” said the young man with a smile. Socrates put his strong hands on the man’s shoulders and pushed him under the water. Thirty seconds later Socrates let him up. “What do you want?” he asked again. “Wisdom,” the young man sputtered, “O great and wise Socrates.” Socrates buried him under the water again. Thirty seconds passed, thirty-five. Forty. Socrates let him up. The man was gasping. “What do you want, young man?” Between heavy, heaving breaths the fellow wheezed, “Knowledge, O wise and wonderful…” Socrates jammed him under the water again. Forty seconds passed. Fifty. “What do you want?” “Air!” he screeched. “I need air!” Socrates took the young man, staring in his eyes and said, “When you want knowledge as bad as you just wanted air, then you will have knowledge.”
The spiritual lesson doesn’t need much explanation; when our hunger and thirst to know God, pursue Christ – His Person and love – are more important than life itself, then we are in a position to obey today’s scripture; a seeking of God with all our hearts, and He has promised to fulfill this hunger and thirst in us.
PRAYER: “Lord, show me the value of You that makes my seeking of You the greatest pursuit in my life.”
QUOTE: “The effort we give to seek Christ will be directly related to the beauty and worth we see in Christ.”