Question 1

How can I know what I should be seeking for?

Accepted Answer

Ecclesiastes 3:9-14What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him.John 14:15-17“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.”John 16:5-11“But now I am going away to the One who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.”Acts 17:26-27“From one man he [God] created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.”Romans 1:18-23God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.Romans 3:9-18Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them. They don’t know where to find peace.” “They have no fear of God at all.”We, like all humans, are born seekers. But as Romans 3:11 states, we are also among those (which includes everyone) who are not naturally or consciously seeking God. And if the quest we are on is not ultimately about finding God, our search is either wrong because we are looking for an alternative to God or it is shortsighted because we are seeking something good that falls short of the Source of all good. Jesus made it clear that we will not truly seek God until the Holy Spirit shows us our need and leads our search.John 1:35-41The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus.When our seeking leads us to Jesus, he first challenges us turn from our sins and follow him. Sometimes this means resetting our priorities from worldly to heavenly priorities.Matthew 6:33“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”Seeking the Kingdom of God involves looking for evidence of God demonstrating his sovereignty in the world. Where God is ruling, the Kingdom is in action. Jesus was inviting his followers to be continuously aware of his Father’s royal presence in the world and to live under God’s commands. A life of blessing is a life committed to God’s will.Matthew 13:44“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.”God’s rule in our lives must become our most treasured goal. Ironically, taking possession of the priceless treasure that is the Kingdom of Heaven costs us everything, yet the Kingdom itself is free, hidden in the field that is our ongoing life with Christ in this world.

Question 2

How can we help reveal God to those who are seeking?

Accepted Answer

Matthew 28:18-20Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”Acts 1:8“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”James 5:19-20My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.When we assist others in their search for God, we are carrying out Jesus’ final orders for his followers. We are making ourselves available to the Holy Spirit to use but are not taking the Holy Spirit’s role. We can deeply care for others and their destiny without taking the responsibility for their salvation, which is God’s work in their lives.

Question 3

How can I seek God?

Accepted Answer

Matthew 5:3-10“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”We should ask God to grow us into people who have character traits and lifestyles that he is able to bless.Matthew 6:33“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”John 1:18“No one has ever seen God. But the one and only Son is himself God and is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.”Colossians 1:15-20Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.We need to remember that we are not seeking to see God in this life, but seeking to see evidence of his Kingdom and presence in the world. The clearest experience of God we will find is in knowing Jesus Christ, who is God in human form.Matthew 7:7-8“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”Hebrews 11:6It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.God rewards persistent seeking, a continuous desire not only to know him but to know him better and more intimately as long as we live.

Question 4

Does God ever seek me?

Accepted Answer

Luke 15:1-10Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”Luke 19:10“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”Jesus not only described the purpose of his mission as one of seeking and saving, he also told stories that illustrated God’s willingness to seek those others might consider insignificant or of less value.Luke 15:22-24“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.”In contrast to the seeking done in the first two parables in Luke 15, the father in Jesus’ third parable doesn’t treat his son like a lost object but as a person willfully wandering. The father wants desperately to find, but only if the son wants to be found. When the son returns, he is only expecting to be found, but instead he is wonderfully forgiven and welcomed home. Yes, God has always been seeking after you.