How can I know what I should be seeking for?
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.
