If you love Him, you will seek Him

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “What the world needs now”

Our Bible verse for today: “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “If you love Him, you will seek Him”

In Jeremiah 29:13-14 God promises that if we seek Him with our whole heart, we will find Him: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord.”

That’s what the Apostle Paul was describing in Philippians 3:8. He had come to the point in his life (and more importantly in his walk with Christ), that nothing was more important to him than drawing closer and closer to Jesus. It wasn’t that Paul dismissed as worthless the things of this world. People still mattered to him – especially his close friendships. Clothes and food and shelter still mattered – of course they did. But nothing mattered to him more than drawing closer to Jesus, and he would allow nothing in life to take priority over that. Paul was simply practicing what Jesus called for in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:33 when He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these others things will be added to you.”

Over-and-over again in the Bible, in numerous passages using numerous illustrations, God makes it clear that He reserves the greatest awareness of Himself for those who will seek Him with all their heart. There are hidden things about God that we are allowed to discover and experience only when we make the effort and do the work to truly seek Him. Like gold and diamonds which can only be unearthed through deep digging and hard work, so too the deeper things of God are reserved for those who will pursue Him at that depth.

Why? Why does God withhold a deeper awareness of Himself only for those who will seek Him like that? It’s so we will appreciate the preciousness of our relationship with Him. When something is attained too easily it is undervalued (if it is even appreciated at all). But when we put time and effort into it – sustained time and effort pursuing what our heart longs for, then once it is ours, we value and cherish it. God wants us to cherish Him like that.

If you love Him, you will seek Him with all your heart. And if you will seek Him with all your heart, you will experience Him in ways you never have before.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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