We need to come to God on his terms.
Psalm 14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.
Isaiah 65:1-2 “I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name.
2 All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes.
If you want to come close to God, you have to realize that you don't get to decide the terms, it is up to him to decide how he will be found. If you are trying to seek God any other way then you are going to fall short of your goal.
God likes people that are broken, he requires us to be that way before we can come into his presence, he doesn't want somebody coming around him that is going to try and tell him how it is. It is clear throughout the Bible that he wants us to approach him in humility, he loves it when we are submissive and give up on doing things our way. (Luke 18:14, Matthew 20:16)
The prideful will see how well they have done and become apathetic towards God. "Who needs him," they will think to themselves. The real God will get replaced by the false god's of money, pleasure, government or self, we think that we can do just fine while we hold onto our idols, lets get the real God out of the way.
God wants us to seek him, he is checking the whole world to see who is, he is an awesome God that desires to be known. He hasn't made it difficult to find him, God has made his presence known, he is standing ready to be found by us, if we are wise enough to seek him. Isaiah 65:1 makes it sound like God is waving his arms to try and get our attention as he says ‘Here I am, here I am!’
| God wants people to seek him God promises to be found by those who seek him Your opportunity to seek him is now and for this life Seek for God with all your heart Seeking God is a priority |
Hebrews 11:6
Isaiah 45:19 Luke 16:19-31 Jeremiah 29:13 Matthew 6:33 |
From the Dictionary of Bible Themes on Bible Gateway
We don't want to be held accountable for our actions, but sooner or later we will be, there isn't anything that we can do to change that fact. The decision that we need to make is will we humble ourselves in this life and be accountable for how we live or will we rebel against God in this life and be held accountable for all of eternity.
God is allowed to dictate the terms that I must obey so that I can approach him. By His grace and mercy He makes me holy by the blood of Christ so that I may have a relationship with him if I seek him with humility.
