Jeremiah 29:13-14 ‘And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity,’

• DAILY READING Colossians 1:1-23; Ezekiel 25-26; Isaiah 53

By 1877, Charles Thomas Studd was a young and famous English cricketer who was widely admired and celebrated. Throughout England, his name was well known.
But despite his great fame and acclaim, Charles knew that something was missing in his life.
One day in 1878, Charles’ father who was a devout Christian hosted a preacher in their home.
While Charles was on his way out to play cricket, this preacher came up to him and started talking to him. Charles, however, did not want to hear any preaching, just like he had not in the past listened to his own father’s admonitions. But as the preacher began asking him about where he would spend eternity, strangely Charles felt his heart being pricked.
He eventually came under the conviction of the Holy Spirit as the preacher continued to speak to him about Jesus and what He did on the cross.
Finally, that day, Charles Thomas surrendered to God and committed his life to Christ.
His conversion was so profound that all his passion turned to serving God. The Bible which used to be so dry to him before, now became his daily delight.
Eventually he came to the point where he chose to give up his interest in playing cricket so as to fully focus on the pursuit of his passion for God’s Presence.
After seeing the hopelessness of pursuing honor from the world through cricket, he decided rather to spend his life seeking the honor that comes from God only.
He would go on to become a missionary to China, Africa and India. At the age of 25, he received an inheritance from his father but gave most of the money away to ministries that helped the poor, including the Salvation Army. He and his wife dedicated their lives to preaching the Gospel and met with much success as through their ministry many people gave their lives to the Lord.

In Joshua 24:15, Joshua addressed all the tribes of Israel saying: “…If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”.

Man is basically a creature of choice.
If we are truly serious about serving God, then we must make a definite choice to totally live for Christ and not for self.
His will must prevail over all our ambitions and selfish pursuits. We must be willing to either give all of ourselves to God or nothing at all.

Indeed the Christian life requires that we choose the will of God over what is comfortable and easy. Christ proved His love for us by giving up His heavenly status and coming to the earth as a man to die on the cross for our sins. And today we must prove our love for Him by being willing to pay the price of following Him at all costs.
The wonderful thing is that when we seek after God with all our heart and find Him, there comes power and miracles into our lives.

God said in Jeremiah 29:13-14 ‘And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity,’

When we seek God and find Him there shall be a reward. Indeed God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. He has not called the sons of Jacob to seek Him in vain.

As we make the decision to seek God and His Kingdom first, surely all else will be added unto us. We can never place God first and come last in life because God honors those that honor Him.
Therefore, today, let us make a fresh commitment to pay whatever price it takes to seek God above all else.
When we find Him, there shall be a reward and our expectations shall not be cut off.

PRAYER: Lord, please help me to always choose You above all else. Today, I thank You for granting me the grace to seek You diligently always and live a life that pleases You at all times, in Jesus Name.

QUOTE
It is only when you can see God in the light of who He truly is that you can begin to walk in the overflow of His blessings. – WORDBITE 222.