Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. [7] Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Isaiah 55:6-7 NASB
Our God is eternal and abounds in mercy and truth to all who call upon Him for salvation. His mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is forever sure. Yet being eternal and ever constant, upon the creation of man, God instituted the sun and the consolations to be for times and for seasons upon the earth, Genesis 1:14-16. He decided that it is good that there should be a time for sowing and a time for reaping. He decided that there should be the day time, where man is designed to work and the night where no man can work, John 9:4. Jesus, in saying “Lo I will be with you till the end of time” in Matthew 28:20, implies that there will be an end of time and this world governed by time, where there will be no nights, but a perpetual day. This will be a time where God’s purpose and agenda for man is not based on times and seasons anymore, but when man, like God exists outside of time and seasons and can live forever.
Till then, God had set a time for every man where every man must seek Him, in the season where He will be found. This also implies that there will be a season where He would not be found by the one who seeks. There are several stories in the bible that demonstrate this reality for man. An example is Noah in the book of Genesis 5-7. God had purposed to destroy the earth with a flood. He found a righteous man named Noah and told him to build an ark. In this time, Noah reached out to the several thousands or millions of people to come into this ark for the saving of their souls. He did this for almost a hundred years, but he could only successfully convert eight souls including himself. Once the rain began to fall and the ark was shut, this was a season for judgment and anyone seeking now, would not find salvation. Another example is in Matthew 25:1-10, the parable of the wise virgins. There was a wedding to be held, yet the bride groom tarried. While they waited, all slept. However, when the time of the bridegrooms arrival came, some had lamps with light and some had lost their light because during the time of waiting, because they were not diligent enough to gather extra oil. The consequence was that they were left out of the class of those who were married to the bridegroom, though they were virgins.
David said in Psalm 42:1 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.” and in Psalm 63:1 “O God, You are my God; I shall seek You early; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.” . Seeking God implies that He is not readily seen by many, or He keeps Himself somewhat invisible to the eyes, though available to all. It also implies that there is work to be done. David says “early will I seek thee”, again emphasizing the time factor. What does seeking God mean? Hosea 10:12-13 says “Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. [13] You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, Because you trusted in your own way, In the multitude of your mighty men.“. It simply means turning from your own self and your ways for a solution and turning to God. In the verse above, the people trusted in their strength and their provision and this was considered sowing in wickedness. Isaiah 55:6-7 also re echoes this, saying the wicked should turn from his ways and the unrighteous man from his path. Wickedness here is simply having a way separate from the Lord and unrighteousness, dwelling in thoughts that are contrary to God, which ultimately affects decision making.
Hence, the admonition is to sow to ourselves in righteousness. The seed is the Word of God and the ground is our hearts, Luke 8:11-15. We are to seek in the Word of God, the good way. Seeing the Word of God is as a hammer as Jeremiah 23:29 says, to break up fallow or fry and uncultivated land is to take in the Word and think on it, till our thoughts are changed to reflect His. This is when it is said that “He rains righteousness on us”. This is when our thinking is changed and devoid of wickedness or trusting in ourselves for help. The reward of those who seek, acknowledging God as their salvation and waiting for His promise of salvation, is that they will be saved. However, there will be a time, where the way of righteousness will not be readily available or known. It is said in this time that iniquity will abound and the love of many will wax cold, Matthew 24:10-12. In the time of Noah, it was not that the rain swallowed up the ark, but the ark was inaccessible because of the rain. In this time where iniquity will cover the earth like a flood, it will not be that God has disappeared from the world, but the darkness will be so strong and the heart of men so trusting in their ways, that iniquity will be all people know. If one has not sought and found the Lord then, it will be impossible to do so.
Beloved, now is the time to seek the Lord. Now is the time to take those extra steps, those extra days off to pray. Seek His way in the little things, early enough before the time where you need to act comes and all you have is your understanding and your ways to solve the solution. Seek the Lord in the big things, the matters of salvation, before your heart is fixed on the way of the world and is so hardened, that God is not even an afterthought anymore. Break up your fallow ground. Now is the time to seek the Lord, to learn of Him and He will reward You with more of His knowledge and His truth and ultimately deliverance.
Prayer for today: O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly and early; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. (Psalm 63:1-5)
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