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YOUR QUESTION (No. 43)
Seeking
My son ran away and when he was gone, I did
everything I could to
search for him. Does God search for us? Isn't the opposite true
in that it is us that must search for Him?
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MY
ANSWER
Not my answer, but the Lord's: Luke.19
[10] For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke.15 [4] What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? [5] And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. [6] And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. John.4 [23] But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. It is the Father who is doing the seeking. Jesus also tells us to seek first the kingdom, but that is not the personal parent/child quest of which we speak here. The prophets were often urging Israel to seek God with words such as this: Jer.29 [13] You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, But we find no such exhortation from the mouth of Jesus. I understand this to mean that, before the coming of the Son of God, the seeking responsibility resided primarily in man. That wasn't working, so the Father sent the Son to search us out from the world. It was an astronomical condescension motivated by an infinite love. I believe we must seek also, as a lost lamb seeks the Good Shepherd. But the lost lamb, being truly lost, is helpless to find the shepherd on its own. So then the Father reveals Himself to us, his children, in Jesus; there we find him . . . seeking us. John.14 [6] I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. [7] If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him. [8] Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied." [9] Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, `Show us the Father'? [10] Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. [11] Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. |