Choose For Yourselves This Day...What You Seek

As Jesus is finishing up His thoughts on what we call “The Sermon on the Mount,” He has these words to say: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8 NIV). Almost unbelievable, right? Ask and you WILL receive. Seek and you WILL find. Knock and the door WILL BE opened. Statements of fact are the way I read these verses. These aren’t actions and responses we HOPE will come our way, these are promises God is making to each of us. Today, I’m not going to look at whether God gives us everything we ask for (the short version is, NO!). Today I’m going to look at the Seek / Find phrase.

I believe, absolutely, that God is telling us that if we seek Him, if we seek His Will and His Way, we will definitely find it. So think about this: He also tells us that His path is the narrow pathway, the one least traveled. If God has promised that if we seek that we WILL find, how is it that the majority of souls are hiking down the wrong pathway? “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV) Did you see “FIND” in both of these sets of verses? Seek and you will FIND . . . narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few FIND it. Putting these two verses together implies that few actually seek God and His pathway? Actually, it’s no implication, it’s another statement of fact. The majority of souls choose to seek other things, things of this life. If you ask them are they choosing death over life, they would naturally tell you “NO,” but actions speak much louder than words. Remember, God promised that we will find Him, if we look for Him. Something to think about as we examine ourselves – right?

If you take Jesus’ words one step further, you will notice that it’s a fact that we ALWAYS find what we seek. This is another self-examination opportunity. When we look for the bad traits in people, we find them. Choose to seek the good in people. When we seek the pleasures of this world, we find them. Choose to seek eternal treasures. Seek evil, find evil. Seek good, find good. If you find that you are finding way too many negative things, maybe it’s time to adjust your compass and begin seeking positive things. If you find that things just never work well for you, you’re always the one that gets dumped on, nothing good ever comes to you – I would suggest two things: 1) Choose to seek the positive in your life and be thankful, because there ARE good things (especially if you’re a Christian). 2) Focus on and seek positive things. This is a fruit that we produce that should tell us if we’ve changed course, if we’ve either moved off of the straight and narrow pathway, or if we’re looking toward the wide streets where the crowds are, taking our eyes (thoughts, mind, heart) off of the Savior. Think about your life for a few minutes. Are you finding more good and positive things than evil, bad or negative? If so, you’re obviously seeking the good and positive. I pray our lives are all full of goodness.