The Good Land

I Chronicles 28:8

So now, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek after all the commandments of the Lord your God so that you may possess the good land and bequeath it to your sons after you forever.

Do you want to possess the “good land?” In this story, that was the land flowing with milk and honey…and also giants.  But God said that if the people would observe and seek his commands, they would actually “possess” the land.

When we rent a house, we do not possess the land on which we live.  We can be asked to leave, it is not in our name, and it’s not something we can leave to our children.

But here in this verse we are told that seeking God enables us to possess good land – provision, hope, rest, peace – and that we can pass it on to our children.

We recently set up a college fund for our daughter’s children.  And that’s all well and good.  But those funds will run out, college will pass, and then what?

The best thing we can establish for our children and the children after that is a possession of the good land…and that only comes through seek and observing his commands always.

What are those commands?  Love Him.  Love others. 

Continually...

I Chronicles 16:9-11

Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;  Speak of all His wonders.

Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.

Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.

“Seek” is mentioned three times here.

If we seek the Lord we will be glad.

We are to seek his strength.

We are to seek his face.

The way we do these things is by singing praises to him and speaking of his wonders, glorying in his holy name and doing it consistently and continually.

It’s just a default we have in this fleshly body in which we live to seek strength and intimacy in other things than God.  We run to gyms, self-help books, psychiatrists, medicines and the advice of others before we seek His strength by worshiping him in all of his truth and glory.  For many of us, he’s our last resort.

We run to relationship after relationship, thinking that some perfect person will complete us, when his face is the one that satisfies, approves, and pierces our soul with love.

When we seek him first…we are glad.

Period.

Seeking?

I Kings 10:24 All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart.

An interesting verse.

In our day, many seek out celebrities to see what they have to say about our current state of affairs. Some seek athletes to see how it is that they win and achieve so much.  Others seek out even Christian authors and speakers to see what they have to offer in the way of hope and encouragement.  And seeking these people may be interesting and enlightening, but they are all just people – though they may offer wise counsel at times.

Solomon was the wisest around, but even Solomon had faults. 

It’s good to seek out the advice of the wisest among us, but ultimately our true seeking must be God and his presence and his ways and his love.

If we only seek out others to hear what they have to say, we will shift like sand, depending on the news  of the day.

If we seek Him, the only wise God, we will never shift, and we will never wonder if he’s going to change…because he doesn’t.

The Refuge

Ruth 2:12 May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.

Where do you run for refuge?

We often run to food, drink, relationship, an escape, television, music, etc.  All of these things are fun additives to life, but they’re not a place of refuge – a place where we can be safe and covered until a storm passes.  They only serve us temporarily, like an umbrella in a huge downpour of blowing rain.  Eventually, we’re going to get soaked!

When we learn that he is our only source of everything we need – especially a place of refuge from the storms of life – only then will be satisfied, feel rewarded, come away full – and ready to walk unafraid again.

Umbrellas are good, but they’re small and only provide a limited amount of coverage.

His wings are huge, all encompassing, and cover us wherever we go, even when we aren’t aware a storm is coming…

Misplaced?

Did you know the Bible talks often about seeking Him?  Even though he pursues us, he is always there for us, and he loves us unconditionally, we are told to seek him.  Perhaps it’s because when we seek for something, we go after it and when we find it, we treasure it.

Deut 4:29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.

It seems that if we want to find God in our daily loves, we must seek Him.  Otherwise, his kindness and goodness get covered up in the mundane and in the woes of daily living in this world.

If we lose a wedding ring, for instance, we search, we pull the house apart, we cry and we pray until we find that precious piece of jewelry handed to us in the middle of vows of commitment and love.

There will be times in life when God is not so visible, not because he has hidden, but because we cover him up with fear, mistrust, and just busyness.  It will require that we lay aside those things and make the choice to seek Him through prayer and his word.

And we will FIND HIM if we search with all our heart and soul.

What are you seeking for?  More money, a better body, a relationship with someone?  Seek Him.  

And you’ll never want to misplace him again…

On the Rock

In Matthew 7 is one of my favorite stories Jesus tells:

 Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

This is the best word picture, the best description, and one of the best definitions of what a true Christian is.

We hear God’s word to us and we act on them – in other words – we love him with all our hearts and love others as we love ourselves.

We experience rain and wind and even floods, just like everyone in the world does, and we feel shaken and “slammed” against…

BUT we don’t fall, because we are FOUNDED on the ROCK.

That’s what sets those apart who love the Lord – they cannot be shaken – because HE is never shaken.

But we must obey  his word and his commands to love Him and love others…that’s the prerequisite for standing in the storm.

Look!

Isaiah 51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,

Who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn

And to the quarry from which you were dug.

In the New Testament we are told if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, “all these things” will be added to us.  It’s referring to things like food and clothing – necessities of life.

But sometimes, the problem is we don’t seek righteousness but instead run from it, because we’re afraid or we’re just not even sure what it is.

God has promised that if we seek him we will find him.  If we desire him, he will be there. And if we let him, he will make us in his image – spotless and pure in his sight – because of his son Jesus.

So we go back to the Creator, the one who made us from the dust, the one who breathed life into our bodies, and the one who sustains us on a daily basis.

That’s where we go, and we marvel, and we rest, and we know that He is our God.