DAY 10

Seek the Lord Wholeheartedly and Earnestly

As we saw yesterday, there is something incredibly powerful when we seek the Lord with all of our heart. It’s a conscious effort on our part, but we seek God from the perspective that He is hiding from us so that He CAN be found, ‘But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.’ Deuteronomy. 4:29. Last week, we were reminded that this diligence in seeking God is foundational to our whole relationship with Him, which is based on faith, ‘And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.’ Hebrews 11:6. Jesus, of course, is our best example of this. Throughout the gospels we see Him prioritising spending time with His Father. For example, at the start of His ministry we read, ‘Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went to a solitary place, where he prayed’ Mark 1:35. Notice how He found the time (very early in the morning) and the place (a solitary place). This was His pattern all the way through to His final hours in the garden of Gethsemane. The writer of the Hebrews summarised Jesus’ diligent seeking of His Father, ‘During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.’ Hebrews 5:7. As well as ‘fervent cries’, we can also seek God in stillness and silence: We see the Lord encouraging the psalmist to, “Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10. It’s often when we adopt a posture of stillness, particularly in the midst of chaos, that we sense His presence in and around us in a very intimate way, and when we can hear His ‘still small voice’ most clearly. So, whatever season of life you’re in, make a fresh commitment to set aside all distractions to regularly spend time with the Lord, in worship, reading His Word, crying out in fervent prayer, as well as quietly listening to His still, small voice.