06/25/F – Seek the Lord

OT: “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the water; and you without silver, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without silver and without cost! …Seek the Lord while he may be found; call to him while he is near. Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will freely forgive. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.” You will indeed go out with joy and be peacefully guided; the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up; this will stand as a monument for the Lord, an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.” (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55:1, 6-13‬ ‭CSB)

The Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 not only died for the sins of Israel, He died for the sins of the whole world. So, through the prophet Isaiah, God says to everyone, “Come.” Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 that whoever drinks from the water that He gives will never get thirsty again because it will become a well of water that springs up from within for eternal life (John 4:13). So, to anyone who thirsts for living water, God says, “Come… and seek the Lord while He may be found – call to Him while He is near.”

Our Lord God’s ways are not like our ways. He doesn’t hold grudges and at the core of His being, He is merciful, compassionate and slow to anger. Seeking the Lord involves repenting from (turning away from) our ways and our thoughts, and turning to the Lord to experience His compassion, receive His forgiveness and submit to His ways and thoughts.

God’s word to seek Him and come to Him have gone out. He spoke those words with intention – to draw people (all types of people) to Himself to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. His words will accomplish what He intended for them to accomplish. We, who have responded to those words in faith and have been redeemed by the blood of the Suffering Servant, have the call and responsibility of reverberating those words throughout the world. For those who respond to His words through us, there will be rejoicing and abundant new life. We don’t have to be concerned with whether or not His call will be effective, for it will be – we just need to repeat the call to come to the Lord and seek Him while He may be found, for a time will come when the opportunity to receive mercy and salvation will no longer be available.

Psalms: “Lord, I seek refuge in you; let me never be disgraced. In your justice, rescue and deliver me; listen closely to me and save me. Be a rock of refuge for me, where I can always go. Give the command to save me, for you are my rock and fortress. Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive. For you are my hope, Lord God, my confidence from my youth. I have leaned on you from birth; you took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is always about you.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭71:1-6‬ ‭CSB)

This anonymous psalm was written by a believer that was past the prime of his life and needed God’s help and protection. Through the whole of His life, he had placed His faith in the Lord and the Lord had always been faithful to His word. Now, as he was in his older years, he knew that the only place where he could receive the help and security that he needed was at the Lord’s feet, in His presence.  Security, salvation, mercy and justice are all found in the Lord – so seek Him.

Prayer: Lord, I know that ultimately everything that I need and desire – peace, joy, life, satisfaction, purpose, provision and protection – are all found in You. So I choose to repent from my ways and my thoughts and turn to You. I come to You,I seek You, to receive Your will and ways for my life, and to allow Your words to reverberate through me to all who will hear. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.