Determine to grow spiritually now, because you may not be able to later.
No, this isn’t the old-time religion appeal, “If you don’t come to Jesus today you might walk out of here and get hit by a Mack truck and then it will be too late.”
Odds are against a Mack truck just around the corner. There may be no life-threatening accident in your future at all. However…
What should be more frightening than meeting an untimely death tonight is living an entire life of regret.
“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Is 55:6-9 (ESV)
“Seek the Lord while He may be found.”
(Does God get lost from time to time?)
“Call upon Him while He is near.”
(Does God leave for vacations?)
What God Has in Common with Chuck Norris
My teenage son once Googled Chuck Norris (the kickboxing crime fighter from the ‘90s television series, “Walker Texas Ranger”). He got this response: “Google won’t search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don’t find Chuck Norris, he finds you.”
That may be a joke when it comes to the Chuck-anator, but when it comes to God, it’s spot on. You don’t find God. God finds you. Actually, He’s even “badder” than Mr. Norris, because…
God doesn’t even have to look for you. He already knows right where you are, because God is omnipresent and therefore everywhere at once.
(I don’t think even Chuck Norris can do that!)
Further, God knows right where you were before this lesson and where you will be when you’re done.
No, He’s not a historian and He’s not telepathic. He’s even better. He’s omniscient, which means He knows everything.
How can He know the future?
That’s simple to grasp once you understand that God’s omnipresence doesn’t just apply to space, but to time as well. (It applies to every dimension actually. In fact, He was around before there were any dimensions. He made them up.)
God is present with me as I write these words (at 11:54 PM on Saturday, May 15, 2010). At the very same moment He’s present with you in the future as you’re reading this. Perhaps that’s why we sometimes feel God talking right to us in a book or sermon. We feel that way because He is.
If God is Everywhere How Could You Miss Him?
When Isaiah tells us to seek the Lord while He may be found, He means while God is open to you finding Him. When I was younger, it never occurred to me that God wouldn’t always be easy to find, but a careful read through scripture reveals numerous times God remains hidden in the shadows.
If you’ve been hearing from God in this study, rejoice! You must be seeking God while He may be found. DON’T STOP!
While you feel Him near, call on Him, forsake those activities and thoughts you know He’s asking you to forsake, and get serious about your spiritual growth.
Questions from the Is 55:6-9 passage above:
- What do you think Isaiah means by seeking the Lord “while He may be found”? What does he mean by calling upon Him “while He is near”?
- What do you think Isaiah means by telling us to return to the Lord that “He may have compassion” on us? What part do we play in God’s compassion?
- How do the words “for He will abundantly pardon” make you feel?
- Do you believe that God’s ways and thoughts are higher than yours? How much higher? Do you think of God and respond to Him in a manner that shows you believe this?
DNA: It’s What’s For Dating
Dug this weekend’s DNA? Be a good friend and share with your friends on the social media platform of choice: Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, or Twitter.
The LoveEd discipleship series, Beyond Sex & Salvation, will empower you to prepare for relational success when it counts: BEFORE you fall in love!
It’s NOT for couples, but for any wise individual who thinks they might want to get married sometime before they die. And would like to learn how to better build healthy relationships in the meantime.
Check out all three study guides in our store. You can walk through them on your own, but it’s more fun with friends (that and it kinda makes sense to grow in relational success in actual relationships with others), so consider putting together an FMU LoveEd small group study.
Even better? And ask a rock star married couple you respect to lead it!
