Seek Only God

"Should you then seek great thing for yourself? Seek them not..." (Jeremiah 45:5a)

In our thrill seeking society and culture experiential trumps the so-called mundane.  Movies that promote horror and excitement seem to be the norm.  We long for the thrill of life.  Thrill seems to give our life some form of meaning.  Therefore we seek the experience.  It does not seem to matter what form the thrill takes only that it excites us, our emotions are raised to a higher pitch.  Then we say, "Wasn't that exciting I want to do it again." We want the great things for our lives.  It is a search for meaning and makes us feel connected to something greater than ourselves.  We see this thrill, experiential seeking in many of our churches today.  We have classes on how to heal, how to speak in tongues, how to prophecy, etc.  Recently I overheard a conversation where the person had just come back from a missionary trip into a foreign land.  All that person could talk about was the healing, the thrill of the healing, the dancing of those who were healed, the fever-pitched emotion connected to the signs and wonders.  What I did not hear was the joy for those who were saved from their sins, the more mundane and less thrilling experience over the "great things" experienced by some. 

If we don't reach some spiritual "high" then there is disappointment, a feeling that God was not present.  Paul spoke these words: "Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified..." (1 Corinthians 1:22-23a).  "Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, 'Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.' He answered, ' A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  (Matthew 12:38-39).

God is not a vending machine dealing out signs and wonders to satisfy our cravings for thrills.  He does not perform a 'dog and pony' show on demand.  The question is: Are you seeking great things for yourself or are you seeking the Great One?  It is not signs and wonders that save people from their sins.  They point the way for those seeking God, but are never the reason nor should they be for salvation.  God wants to give us the greatest thing possible. It may not be as experiential as i.e., healing, but better, greater it is a relationship with us. It is a right relationship with God and He gives the relationship when it is Him you seek and not what He can give.

If all we doing is asking God for things then we have not come to the place of abandonment to him and have become a Christian on the standpoint of your own.  Are we seeking the LORD then abandonment to Him is the first stand, if not on that point then we are not seeking the LORD by something for ourselves.  Are we prepared to ask yourself what it is you want from God and why you want it? Remember God is not concerned about making you blessed and happy just now; He is working out His ultimate perfection all the time--That we "may be one even as we are one" (John 17:22).

God does heal, and He performs miracles every day.  The Greatest miracle is the salvation of those lost in sin to a life and relationship with God.  The fact that God, came and died on the cross, God the Son, the Son of God, came into our world, and rose again sending into all believers God the Holy Spirit to create in us a new creation.  Miracles are exciting when they happen and as a sign pointing Jesus our Savior.  Look for the greater thing, changed lives because of Jesus.  We preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Daily Prayer:

Father thank you that you entered our world, took on flesh, died, rose again, and now sitting at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us.  May I seek You, a closer relationship with You.  May I not seek the thrill, the experiential that is temporary but the thrill of leading others to You where the miracle is not a temporary thing but eternal, life eternal.  Teach me, lead me, to those I may bring this Good News.    Amen