Seeking God

What does seeking God really mean? When we read the Bible, the blessing is in seeking God, while we read, not in just reading it like any common book. So, let's look at the lives of some of the people in the Bible who were most blessed by seeking God; Enoch, Anna, and Simeon.

Enoch is a controversial person in the Bible because he was raptured alive into Heaven.

Genesis 5:21-24 Reads:

21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

Enoch sought after God and found Him. When Enoch found God, he talked and walked with God in such a way that God gave him eternal life, without going through the grave. He and God had become the best of friends. Many scholars disagree about where God put Enoch, when God took him. But a better question is how did Enoch seek God differently than everyone else, so that God was please with Him enough that God raptured him? Because different part of the Bible help us understand other parts, before we ponder that question, let's look at Anna.

Luke 2:36-38 Reads:

"36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem."

Anna was married seven years. When she lost her husband, instead of marrying again, she dedicated herself as a prayer warrior in the temple, for the rest of her life. She may have been serving in the temple about 60 years or more. She was seeking Jesus the Messiah, by prayer and fasting. When Jesus and his parents came into the temple, she was there, and when she saw the baby Jesus, the Holy Spirit told her who He was. That was an amazing moment for her and Jesus' parents. The majority of the people in Israel rejected Jesus as the Messiah, but she knew Him. How did Anna seek God differently so that the Holy Spirit told her and not most people? Before we dive into this question, let us look at Simeon.

Luke 2:25-35 Reads:

"25 At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him 26 and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, 28 Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,

29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised.30 I have seen your salvation,31 which you have prepared for all people.32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!”

33 Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. 35 As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”

Simeon was a priest who had chosen a religious career. And not just that, he had understood, from reading his Bible, that the Messiah might come in his lifetime, and he was praying that Jesus would come. The Holy Spirit took him into the temple so that he could meet Jesus, and then told him who Jesus was. What an uplifting moment that must've been. But, then the prophecy that the Holy Spirit gave him was very troubling, yet accurate. How did Simeon seek God differently than the other priests so that God honored him by calling him into the temple so that he could meet Jesus?

During his first sermon Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (Matthew 5:6-8). Those who hunger after God instead of fame, money, drugs, or romance will be blessed. Enoch, Anna, and Simeon were people who hungered after God. Those who are merciful with their neighbors will find mercy from God, because what we give others, returns unto us, supernaturally, (Luke 6:38). And those who are pure in heart will see the real God because we interpret God through the lens of whatever is in our hearts (Psalm 18:25-26; Titus 1:15&16; James 4:6-10). Those who seek God earnestly, from a pure heart without guile, thanklessness, unforgiveness, and unrepentance, will be blessed with finding Him, as Enoch, Anna, and Simeon did, (Jeremiah 29:13). A test you can give yourself about the purity of your own heart, is asking yourself, 'Do I gladly seek the return of Jesus, in His perfect Wisdom of time?' (Titus 2:13).

The Apostle Paul quoted the Old Testament when he wrote, in Romans 3:10-12, "There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” How can this statement be true? What about Enoch, Anna, Simeon, as well as Job (Job 1:8), Daniel (Daniel 6:20-21), and the Apostle John who by church history, survived an execution attempt of being boiled in oil because of his close relationship with God? Weren't they amazing examples of seeking God and finding Him? Yes, they were all graciously rewarded as they sought God. And in 1Peter 2:25, the Apostle Peter wrote, ".....you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." So, if there is nobody who seeks God, how do some people seek God?

Helping people seek God is a job of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8-10). Before people are born again by the Holy Spirit, they do not seek God, but focused on life as a rats race. They never give God a single serious thought. Those who surrender unto the Will of the Holy Spirit leave the rats race, they think of God sometimes, often, and frequently. And then there is Jesus, He thought of his Father always. When we see people sinning and trampling one another in a rats race, they aren't seeking God. There is nobody helping each other. How we treat each other equals how we treat God (Matthew 25:31-46). In fact, sometimes, if somebody tells the rat racers that they are missing their blessing by sinning, they can't even fathom the blessings they are missing, and simply think it's strange that you don't join them in the rats race. Many of them are fearing losing the rats race, and not fearing missing out on a relationship with God, their Creator. And they most certainly aren't joyfully waiting on Jesus's return. Yet Jesus waits patient on that those who will receive His Spirit and leave the rat race. And, Jesus has said, "What good is it if a man (could) gain the entire world, and yet lose his soul? (Luke 9:25). They might win the rats race a little bit, but in the next life, they will lose everything because they spent no time seeking God.

The saints are those who earnestly seek God. They live a blessed life of joy, getting answered prayers, and even miracles. Sometimes they seek Jesus so humbly that they gain being filled into overflowing with the Holy Spirit, and they can feel the Holy Spirit pouring out of their bellies like a fountain, as they operate in His supernatural gifts. They are much better off than those who give God no thoughts, and better off than those who have mistaken thoughts about God's goodness (Matthew 25:14-30). But even, saints do not seek God perfectly. Even, saints disappoint God at times. Even saints fail at helping some of the people that God the Father needs their help with. As an example, on any given day, a saint can be found committing a shocking sin. This sin may cause the most vulnerable people harm; not help. Jesus, on the other hand, will keep living holy, loving, and defending whosoever believes in Him, at more sacrifice unto Himself than anyone on earth would (John 9:1-34, Matthew 12:7-13, John 8:1-11, John 4:1-42, Luke 9:1-10, Matthew 15:26-27). Jesus sought the Father perfectly, so He can save anybody (John 3:16).

God created us and put us on this earth, hoping we would seek Him and find Him. And, He knows that we can get stuck in the rat race, so He paid the ultimate, extraordinary, sacrifice on the cross, so that we could have an immeasurably better chance at leaving the rat race and find Him. It's true that there will be many distracting temptations as you seek Him. The Pilgrim's Progress, is a great book and movie about such temptations. In this book the major character Christian seeks the Celestial City. Along with the Bible, it is one of the most read book of our times. So you have been given your chance, now. Seek Him. If you seek Him earnestly, when your blessing arrives, you will wonder why you didn't seek Him sooner.