We saw in part 1 of this topic that seeking God is for our own benefit, seeing that we are His creation, the lesser seeks the greater and we depend on Him for our daily breath. The illustration of my faulty sewing machine only standing the chance of being restored to its original and perfect state if taken to its original manufacturer depicts the fact that our being made whole and perfect in time of trouble; be it emotional, physical or physiological, can only come from our original maker – God. Today we are looking at a scripture in the old testament to discover why seeking God may be unavoidable.
Today’s text is about a king in the bible who built God a temple and dedicated it to Him together with the people of his kingdom by offering over a hundred and forty thousand sacrificial animals over several days. This act attracted a response from God who then confirmed He had accepted their offering and would do as his people had requested; answer prayers made in the temple, provided the people remained in Him. And if they turned away from serving Him, there would be severe consequences. He also went further to provide a means of reconciliation.
While going through this text, certain things stood out for me which I share below:
Falling away from God attracts a repercussion:
The bible tells us of how God rescued the children of Israel from slavery, in the hands of the Egyptians, so that they could be His people ‘called’ by His name [Exodus 6:6-7]. The people also agreed to stick to the promise of not betraying their redeemer else, they would face the repercussions however, there came times when they got drawn away to the worshipping of idols and thereby attracted the full consequences and paid the price. For example, Zedekiah, one of the kings of Jerusalem, led the people to sin against God during his reign, such that He cast them away from His presence enabling the Babylonians to take the city captive [see 2 Kings 24 and 25]. They ceased to enjoy God’s presence and suffered greatly in the hands of their enemies until they repented.
The Same principle is not only true for the children of Israel but is also true for anyone who refuses to seek God and allow Him to lead their life; His presence will be hidden from such, they will therefore be open to all sorts of attacks of the devil until they return to Him. The bible tells us that we, His creation, are all born into sin as a result of the fall of the first man, Adam, Romans 5:12 However, God provided a way to return to Him which is through His Son; Jesus Christ. Just as the children of Israel, referred to as God’s people, called by His name [Numbers 6:27, Deut 28:10, Ex 20:24], departed from God and required the restoration pre-promised here in our text, likewise, we are all no doubt His creation who have forsaken him and turned to sinful ways. The good news however, is that when we forsake those ways, return to God and invite Him in, He will receive us, transform us to become His sons and daughters, His very own people once again.
No matter how far gone the departure from the Lord is, He is willing to forgive:
The atrocities the children of Israel promised not to do were the very things they did; they turned away from Him and sought other gods. They did the abominable things other nations did and completely forgot about the God who had rescued them and the promise they made to Him yet, at the point of genuine repentance, God was willing to take them back to be his people again. This communicates mercy.
The bible likens us to these people when it says “all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way” Isaiah 53:6. And just like the people of Israel, we attracted the consequences of sin into our lives. God’s mercy and love for His creation is the reason He provided means for us to return to Him. He could have chosen to wipe us all out and re-create a new set of people who would seek Him yet, He chose not to. Deciding to forgive and show compassion when in a position to punish defines ‘mercy’ and also portrays the finished work of Christ on the cross. However, when anyone chooses to ignore this act of mercy and continue in their sinful ways, then they take His mercy for granted. It prevents God from stepping into their lives to redeem and relieve them of their suffering. Just as He redeemed the people of Israel from the nations who burdened them with much suffering and pain, He also wants to redeem everyone who comes to Him from the rulership of the devil and his burden. God’s kingdom is joy, peace and righteousness through His Son Jesus Christ.
God promised to do three things, if His people will also do three things:
Provided they ‘humble themselves and pray’, ‘seek His face’ and, ‘turn away from their sinful ways’, He would ‘hear from heaven’, ‘forgive them’ and ‘heal their land’. It takes humility to pray to God. We are led to think that we are better off without Him hence, we see no reason to pray to Him. When we develop a belief system of self sufficiency, we are in danger of looking inwards whenever we need help and because we are not designed for self sufficiency, we tend to crash down at the very point of our limits. This is why the first approach to seeking Him comes from the mind. We must break down every mental wall of fortification we have built, humble ourselves and come to Him in prayer; that is confessing our sins, asking for forgiveness and inviting His Son Christ Jesus [who gave Himself on the cross for us to become God’s people 2 Corinthians 5:18] to become Lord over our entire lives. Praying this prayer also signifies submission to Him. The final bit is to turn away from our evil ways. We must make a conscious effort, by the help of His Spirit in us, to stay clear of anything that will return us to our former state. Having forsaken the old ways, we cannot return to it any longer. This is when healing starts to take place.
In John 3:2 &3. Christ Jesus explained that unless we are born again; that is spiritual rebirth, one cannot gain access to, let alone enjoy spiritual things. See also 1 Corinthians 2:10. Spiritual rebirth takes place when we genuinely follow the steps in number 3 above. God’s spirit performs a process of regeneration in us, transforming us to become God’s people.
Once this transformation occurs and we become God’s people, He performs His own side of the promise. We gain access to Him; whereas in the previous state, we could not be heard because sin causes Him to be far from us. When He forgives us, it means that our sins are completely erased! And finally, we gain access to all the spiritual blessings He promised us. We receive healing from all that befell us in our previous state. Now we are able to operate under open heaven which means that everything in and beneath begins to work in our favour.
Conclusion
God doesn’t desire that we seek Him only when we have problems but anytime and everytime. Infact, it is His desire that we stay connected to Him and draw all the strength we need to survive each day. Remember it is in Him we live and move and have all our being. Should we decide not to seek and connect with the Father, it would be to our own disadvantage but on the other hand, He is ever willing to welcome us back when our mind is truly made up to seek and follow Him genuinely.
