Do We or Don't We . . . Seek God?

Photo by: Witthaya

In Romans 3:11 we read, There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. The context of this verse is about the unbeliever, the person who has not yet put his trust in the Lord. He is without hope and doesn’t seek. He hasn’t yet put his faith in Jesus for salvation.

This verse isn’t saying no one at all ever seeks God. When I studied this theme, I found there are many verses that talk about people seeking the Lord for salvation. Here are just a few of them:

• But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul (Deuteronomy 4:29).
• Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually (1 Chronicles 16:10-11).
• Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD (1 Chronicles 22:19).
• And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever (1 Chronicles 28:9).
• And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul (2 Chronicles 15:12).
• And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee (Psalm 9:10).
• The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever (Psalm 22:26).
• When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek (Psalm 27:8).
• The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing (Psalm 34:10).
• Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified (Psalm 70:4).
• Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near (Isaiah 55:6).
• And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).
• For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live (Amos 5:4).
• That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things (Acts 15:17).
• That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us (Acts 17:27).

Not only does the heart of man look for God, God searches for us. (In fact, He seeks us first!) Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth was to bring man to Himself.

• For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment (Ezekiel 34:11-12, 16).
• How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? (Matthew 18:12)
• For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).

Those who don’t respond to the Lord lose out on God’s grace. This is so very sad.

• And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD (2 Chronicles 12:14).
• The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts (Psalm 10:4).

What does seeking God have to do with us today? If we already know the Lord as Savior, do we continue to seek God?

Yes!

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened (Matthew 7:7-8). This passage is written to Christians and contains other instructions, such as not judging without first looking at our own lives, the goodness of God, the Golden Rule, false prophets, and judging the fruit of true believers. Jesus was teaching His disciples.

Jesus also taught the disciples about prayer. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive (Matthew 21:22). And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it (John 14:13-14). If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you (John 15:7).

Let’s seek the Lord every day, get closer to Him, and get to know His heart.

Seek, and ye shall find.