Saturday, November 22, 2008

The Heart That Seeks After God, Pt. 1

I have been thinking for a while about this topic, and I think that it is very important for this reason: we live in a day where man is so dependent on himself, and proud of it, that he thinks he has no need for God. Americans, especially, have so much prosperity, that they have lost their senses for a real God, a God that created them to have fellowship with him. It seems to take people tragedy, disappointment, and failure to see their need for God. Take September 11, 2001, for example. A tragedy seems to be the only thing that sobers people up, even Christians. What might it take for Christians to see their need for God’s presence today? They have become complacent, which just means satisfied, with where they’re at. I have realized my own personal failure without God, and that alone teaches me to seek him.

I began to see the walk with God that men and women in the Bible had, and I began to study the factors, as well as the circumstances, that contributed to it. Following are some of the notes that I wrote down. I don’t know about you, but it is my desire to be one whose heart seeks after God!

I. Fertility

The heart that seeks after God must first start with preparation, or, fertility.

Relationships in the Bible are compared to fertile gardens. God’s first relationship with man was in a garden. In the book of Song of Solomon, he compares an intimate relationship with a vineyard. The obvious reason for this is that there are so many similarities between relationships and gardens. It takes careful planning, unselfish dedication, and commitment to make a garden produce. And so it is with a relationship. Relationships do not grow without fertility.

And this garden does not grow isolated and independently, no different than a physical garden.

If I know one thing about your relationship with God, it is that you will meet strong opposition in any such endeavor. The weeds of sin, the wild beasts of the devil, and the insects of the flesh will seek to turn back your attempts. Every day will be a battle. Many days growing up on our garden-covered property, I would look at our gardens with disgust because of the hard work I had put in just the day before, knowing that a job such as I had done should last a while. What a rude awakening, to see the weeds and insects, fighting against our every attempt to grow a successful garden. :D Every day it took renewed dedication to the task. So we ask, “God, help us to seek thee more.” Fertility is where we start.

Hosea 10:12
“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

How can you expect a heart, cluttered with sin and weight like a 30 car pileup on a two lane road, to seek God? How do we expect a heart that is not prepared to seek God, to act as it has not been adequately prepared? It will not; it cannot. How can we seek after God? I asked God this same question, and he answered in a variety of ways. But this is what he told me.

A. Omission

The first reason that so many people have no heart to seek the Lord is the clutter of their Christian life. With the clutter of sin and weight in your life, you cannot seek God.

Hebrews 12:14
“…and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”

You must first remove the sin and weights in your life.
When sin is in your heart, you have no desire to seek God. I heard one preacher say, “Your behavior is indicative of your prayer life.” David said, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” In seeking God with a pure heart, you absolutely must omit some things, and that starts with sin in your heart and life.

2Corinthians 10:5
“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

I know some people that cannot simply have a moment of quiet time. They always have an ipod, cell phone, computer, book, magazine, newspaper, etc. in their hands. If you ever want to seek God, you have to omit that trash!

Some things in of themselves are not wrong, but they combine to steal your fellowship with God. Preparing your heart to seek the Lord is not going to happen by accident.
You, as a Christian, need to fertilize the soil of your soul and grow a healthy relationship with God by pulling weeds that would suck the spiritual life from your garden.

Consecrate yourself unto God, and develop a heart that seeks after him.

Here is a warning for all who know the story of Rehoboam:

2 Chronicles 12:14
“And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.”

Let us not make this same mistake.

B. Obedience

If you truly want a heart that seeks after God, you must be obedient to what God has told you. No matter what “so and so” said about what they thought, or God told them, or their preacher told them. Just know what God told you to do and obey.

I’ve always thought it was funny reading books titled things like, “----‘s Spiritual Secret,” or “----‘s Secrets of God’s Power.” Why would I think that was funny? Two reasons. One, you are not anyone but yourself. Secondly, they always just say things like, “Read your bible, Pray, Stay humble, Fear the Lord, etc.” :D …Hold on…I think I heard that in church last Sunday!! I think we make things harder than they are. What God wants is not for you to go dig up some pseudo-spiritual, deep, dark doctrine for God’s touch. He just wants simple, consistent obedience to his Word.

That’s preparing your heart to seek God; Cultivating fertility through: 1. Omission of Sin; 2. Obedience to the Savior.

Lord, break up our fallow ground! For if ever there was a time for us to seek thee, ‘tis now!

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