When I was little, all the neighborhood kids and my two older brothers and I would play “Hide and Go Seek.” Remember that one? The SEEKER would cover his or her eyes and count to ten very slowly while everyone else went into hiding. At the count of TEN, the Seeker yelled, “Ready or not, here I come!”
Most of the kids wanted to hide, wanted to be cleaver. And nobody wanted to be the Seeker because it was YOU against EVERYBODY ELSE.
But in real life, what we seek can have profound consequences. Proverbs 11:27 says, “If you seek good, you will find favor; but if you seek evil, it will find you!” (Proverbs 11:27, NLT).
God tells us to be careful of what we ask for, because when we seek things for self-gratification, for pride, or for desires that are contrary to God’s will, then God will let us suffer the CONSEQUENCES of our search. We will find ourselves pursued by the temporary satisfactions of the world. And we WON’T be able to hide when we find ourselves at the end of the road.
“Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done” (Romans 1:28, NLT).
On the other hand, if what we seek is a lasting and permanent resolution to our lives, then God will meet us where we are and deliver us into His will, where we will find meaning and purpose for our lives and for eternity.
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33, NLT).
Most people go through life SEARCHING for something or HIDING from something. Are you going to set yourself up for evil to come knocking at your door because you sought it out with too much desire? Or are you going to set yourself up to knock on God’s door so that He may show you His favor?
Jesus said to His disciples, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9, NLT). When we SEEK GOD, He grants us entry into the Kingdom of Heaven! And in following Him daily, we get a TASTE of that in advance of eternity! There is no better satisfaction than that!
David McCall
Executive Pastor
