When it comes to thinking properly about God, life, and our relationship to higher things, it is obviously important to get our facts straight. In other words it is imperative that we understand the truth about those things that matter most. Since nothing matters more than God, it makes sense to organize our thoughts about him.All this said, however, we must not fail to recognize the intention of these words and the One to whom they point. We must know about God–facts about Him, who and what he is, what he requires of and promises us. But these pieces of knowledge are person-oriented, that is, they point us consistently to a person. Here is a sampling:
“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” (Deuteronomy 4:29).
– It is the Lord, it is God, whom we search after.
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
– Whose kingdom and righteousness? God’s!
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
– Of whom do we inquire? The implied answer: God!
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
– Though theoretical truths are important (facts about the person in view, his identity, etc.), it is a person that we must embrace. Come to ME.
“Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Mark 10:4).
– The children come to a person, the living Jesus.
“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like” (Luke 6:47).
– It’s not merely about abstract ideas, truths about Jesus. We must approach and look to HIM!
“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).
– Our discipleship entails a selfless approach to life, but this is not done in a bubble or in isolation from God himself. We follow a person, Jesus.
“Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17).
– Often, we highlight the “fishers of men” facet of this passage. But the key to this text is not simply that we be faithful to some evangelistic endeavor. The key is following Jesus, for he is the one who teaches us about “fishing,” molding us into people who can benefit others. It’s all about following HIM!
What we are talking about here is a deity, a personal God, who must be sought and followed. Ideas about him, necessary as they are, were never intended to be a replacement for him; rather, they point us outside of ourselves to the living One himself, the One who lives among us still.
Of course our ideas about Him impact our expectations, the manner we approach him, and even the zeal with which we seek him. But it is the person of God that we must seek, inquire of, look to, and follow. He is the ever present One, the One of whom the promises speak, the Lord described in many places, the being who is actually with us now.
