Deuteronomy 4:29-31; NASB
29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things happen to you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not abandon you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them. I remember early on in my college days, there was one class that took place on Tuesdays and Thursday, right around lunch time. Several weeks into the semester, my friends decided to invite me out to lunch. “I have class,” I thought. “Certainly I can’t miss it. I signed up to be there.” It was a Tuesday, and I made the decision that it is far better to go to lunch with my friends than it is to go to class. You know, because as a young college student, I know everything. But, me being me, I felt guilty for deliberately ditching a class. It was disrespectful to the professor. It didn’t honor them and the work they were trying to do. So as Thursday rolled around, I had a huge pit in my stomach. “How could I just walk back into class after I had turned my back on it a couple days before?” And Thursday's class came and went, without me being in attendance two times in a row now. Oh the guilt I felt! (I know, maybe it’s just me, but I have to admit I have some very ‘pharisee’ tendencies in my life) In Deuteronomy 4, Moses is giving Israel its charge as they are about to head into the Promised Land. “I have taught you statutes and judgments as the Lord God commanded me,” Moses declares in verse 5. And then in verse 9, “Only be careful for yourself and watch over your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from it all the days of your life.” But verse 25 takes a different turn, as Moses warns what will happen when they forget God, when they turn to false gods: you will provoke the anger of the Lord and you will not live long in the land He has promised you. Before we cast stones against Israel, because they totally blew it and turned from God just as Moses said, we must look at ourselves and see our own propensity to turn from God and His glory, selfishly seeking out our own pleasures. And when that happens, everything seems to fall apart. The great news (well, let's call it the Good News, the Gospel message), God does not turn His back on us, nor does He forget us. He doesn’t want us to remain in that place of darkness. “He is compassionate,” Moses declares, “He will not abandon you. Man, God is an amazing God! But, there is a catch, a requirement, a necessary component we need to have. You will seek the Lord and you will find Him IF you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. IF you search for Him with all your heart and soul. That’s a pretty big “if”! God isn’t looking for people who go through the motions. He isn’t seeking followers who are there most of the time, but if something better comes along they might not be there. All. Your. Heart. And. Soul. Our commitment to God is much like our commitment to our spouses when we get married. What is typically said? “To have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poor, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death.” It’s a commitment to be there all the time, no matter what is happening. It’s a commitment to support, to love, to cherish. It’s the same with God. God wants to be near us, to be with us, to have a relationship with us. I honestly think it breaks God’s heart when we choose other things as more important than Him. He longs for our return to be with Him. It’s the same as Jesus taught in Luke 15:7 - “There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Maybe you are in a place that is hard, dark, foreign. Have you wandered away from the Lord? Have you drifted to seeking your own pleasures instead of seeking the glory of the Lord? Know this - the invitation to come back is always there with God. The door is open for you to return. But, it is going to require a lot of you. Well, not a lot….all of you. Search for the Lord with all your heart and soul and you will find Him. Because He is right there walking with you. Remember, God is a compassionate God. In the end, I made it back into the class I ditched, feeling so horrible for my actions. The professor wasn’t angry. In fact, I believe they said they were glad to have me back in class. I may have received a reminder that I only have so many unexcused absences before I would have to drop the class and take it all over again another semester, but it was a gentle reminder that this is what I signed up for. No matter where you are, come to God. Come to God for the first time. Come to God if you have wandered away. Let His compassion and grace wash over you. But, if you want to find Him, don’t just go through the motions. Search for Him with all your heart and soul. -Pastor Brian
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