BECOMING A SEEKER

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

You are my portion, Lord; I have promised to obey Your words. I have sought Your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to Your promise.

I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to Your statutes. I will hasten and not delay to obey Your commands. Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget Your law. At midnight I rise to give You thanks for Your righteous laws.

I am a friend to all who fear You, to all who follow Your precepts.

The earth is filled with Your love, Lord; teach me Your decrees.

Psalm 119:57-64

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

“I have sought Your face with all my heart.”

These seven words of the psalmist may form the root definition of the Christian walk: ever seeking to live in a way that finds ourselves in the favor of the Lord.

It’s a lifelong pursuit as we will never achieve perfection in our quest to live in the righteousness we find in our Savior, Christ Jesus. After all He was Emmanuel, God with us. He came from heaven to earth, fully man and yet fully God. He lived to show us how to and then died to save us all, commanding us to carry on His work of bringing others to salvation, to a life forever with their Creator Father God through Him. He also ordered His disciples to teach others to obey all He commanded. In order to do that, we need to know what Jesus commanded. We need to seek and know Jesus and when we do, we need to follow the lead of the psalmist who showed us what we should be seeking:

1. We should be seeking Him as our Portion.

 You are my portion, Lord.

In Christ, we find everything we need, now and forever. Nothing will ever fulfill us like He does,

2. We should be seeking His grace.

Be gracious to me according to Your promise.

Despite our best efforts to seek Christ and live according to His will and way, we are still sinners and fail and fall. We’re fortunate that we serve a loving, caring, and forgiving Savior, one who shows us His grace and mercy, a mercy that is new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

3. We should be seeking His ways.

I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to Your statutes. I will hasten and not delay to obey Your commands.

When we truly seek Jesus with all our hearts and as our portion, we will see that our ways are far away from His. We’re convicted by His Holy Word and Spirit to turn from our sin and unbelief, turning our steps toward the ways of righteousness by obeying His commands.

4. We should be seeking His hope.

Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget Your law.

No matter what the world might bring upon us, no matter what might be takes from us, we will always have hope and hope eternal through Jesus Christ. Our salvation promise can never be taken away, even by the most wicked person who tries to come against us.

5. We should be seeking Him to give thanks.

At midnight I rise to give You thanks for Your righteous laws.

This is too easy. Think where you would be today without Jesus in your life. When you do, you can’t help but be immediately drawn into a sense of praise and thanksgiving unto Him and all He has done, to include saving your life.

6. We should be seeking to be a friend like Jesus.

I am a friend to all who fear You, to all who follow Your precepts.  

Jesus actually took the Old Testament words of the psalmist and enhanced them, or as I often say, Jesus took the Old Testament to a new level when He came. Just look at His teachings on murder and adultery for additional examples (Matthew 5). Jesus was a friend to everyone, even the people the spiritual leaders of the day saw as unclean and unworthy of being around, people who were seen as sinners by sinners who were blind to their sins. Sound familiar? We have many people like this today, modern day Pharisees and Sadducees who are no less sinners than the people they choose to judge. Jesus said He came to hang out with sinners like you and me because they, being sick, needed the Great Physician to heal and save them (Matthew 9:9-12). We need to be friends to all, even when they might not wish to be friends to the Lord, just as Jesus did.

7. We should be seeking His instruction.

Teach me Your decrees.

As we study the Word of God, we will find ourselves instructed by the Holy Spirit. It will happen every time we delve into the scriptures when we come with a heart and mind ready to receive His guidance and direction, rest assured of that.

8. We should be seeking His love.

The earth is filled with Your love, Lord.

I’m reminded of the lyric in Third Day’s song, Your Love O Lord:

Your love O Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness stretches to the sky, Your righteousness is like a mighty mountain, Your justice flows like the ocean’s tide. I will lift my voice to worship You my King and I will find my strength in the shadow of Your wings.

When we seek Jesus and do so with all our hearts, the first thing we will find is love for it is at the core of who Jesus is. The love that fills the earth is His love, a love that came to save all who will place their faith and trust in Jesus as their Savior, to those who fully realize and understand through God’s Word that there is no other way to the Father except through His Son (John 14:6).

My prayer today is that every person in this world will become a Christ-seeker and experience the rich fullness of His love, grace, mercy, and salvation.

Amen.

PS: Listen to Your Love O Lord here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEF7IoQ3eUk

In Christ,

Mark

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