Seeking God With Your Whole Heart
(NRSV) Jer 29:11 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. 12 Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. 13 When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will let you find me, says the LORD
Jeremiah 29:11 is a well known verse, and many people have it displayed in their homes, their offices, anywhere they can be reminded of God’s steadfast love. But the verse that follows is just as significant.
Jeremiah was speaking to the people in exile in Babylon. Consider that during their 70 years of captivity in Babylon, many had lost their faith. There was no temple in which to worship, there were even decrees making it unlawful to worship anyone but the king.
Think of the impact seventy years in captivity in a foreign land would have on your life. The food, customs, language and culture would all be different. Your children and grandchildren would be assimilated into this unfamiliar way of living and it would be a struggle to maintain the faith and traditions to which you hold dear.
I will tell you as someone raised in a Christian family, with Christian friends who all practiced the same Christian values, I am finding myself more and more out of step with the culture and mores in the 21st century. I sometimes feel like a stranger in a foreign land. But I know, believe and understand that my God, the one, true and living God, is unchanging and if I continue to seek Him with my whole heart I will find Him.
Today I encourage you to meditate on God’s Word, sing songs of faith that align with the Word and pray, pray, pray. Pray the Scriptures, pray from the depths of your spirit and pray a simple one sentence prayer just to thank God for today. And when you pray, remember to listen.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
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