Seek Me

     The Bible calls us to seek God “And if you shall seek Jehovah your God from there, then you shall find Him, if you seek Him with your whole heart, and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29). We are also called to seek the Kingdom of God "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33 & Luke 12:31) for this is the result of seeking God, to receive the knowledge of Him and the understanding of His righteousness. This is our main task in this life, to pass through this life of trials and sin into the perfect life we were designed to live. Why should this be necessary? Adam (the first man) made the fatal mistake and introduced sin to mankind by transgressing the one command God gave him, "But the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat…” (Genesis 2:17). Since then, all of Adam’s descendants are born into a sinful world with a sinful nature and every sin has a price, “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23).  We are all called to die a first death, because of Adam's transgression of Jehovah's one command. Four thousand years later Christ came to earth and personally paid the price of sin at Calvary for our confessed and repented transgressions, so that we "might" escape the second death, which is an eternal death. Just as the Israelite killed his sacrificial animal in the temple, he also had to confess his sin before God; we also need to confess our sins to Jehovah in our prayers. The Old Testament sacrificial system, displayed a shadow of Christ's substitute for us when He was sacrificed at Calvary in our stead. The early sacrificial system allowed an animal sacrifice as a substitute for the sinner by man shedding its blood for the price of his sin. Another sin would mean another confession and another animal sacrifice. By design, this was to be a detestable act to the sinner, supplying a perfect animal from his own stock and killing it, but once Christ died for us as the perfect "Lamb of God", additional sacrifices ended; Christ reversed Adam's sin, "for as all die in Adam, so also all will be made alive in Christ." (I Corinthians 15:22). This gift of forgiveness is connected with repentance from the sinner, "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent! For the kingdom of Heaven has drawn near." (Matthew 4:17). A definition of "repentance" from Webster is: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of ones life. But also: to feel regret or contrition and to change one's mind. All these apply but our best example is when Jehovah repented, He ceased from doing as He planned because men changed their ways. An example of Jehovah's repentance, "And Jehovah changed His purpose concerning the evil which He had spoken to do to His people." (Exodus 32:14), His repentance resulted in ceasing the act what He planned. We are to go beyond just regretting our sin but to not repeat our sin.

     It might not be clear as to how we are to seek Jehovah, but this is accomplished by the reading of His divine word in the only book written about God, by the only One who personally knew our Almighty God, His only-begotten Son, Jesus, the inspirer of the Bible writers, being the "Word of God" (John 1:1). All other books are insufficient and fall short of giving us all that is needed, because its purity could be compromised. It is in this process of reading and learning that His Son guides us and grants us correct understanding of His Father's precepts, purposes, character and instructions, as to how we are to prepare ourselves for the Kingdom of God. Then after fully understanding why, then we are to commit our actions to doing what we learned, and believing it to be the only way to live, with compassion for our earthly companions and to honor all His commands with our just actions. I believe there is no short cut in this task, since you alone will be the recipient of Jehovah’s grace, you yourself must put forth the effort to learn and to do His will, "And he said to me, Do not fear, Daniel, For from the first day you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard..." (Daniel 10:12). All the information needed for salvation and peace is in God's word, placed there for searching hearts, allowing God to bless us with guidance, understanding and wisdom, which will surpass any human efforts. Jesus tells us that we cannot do anything on our own, which certainly includes understanding Jehovah's desires for us, and to accomplish God's desires for us by walking in His light. This also is impossible without the help of Jehovah's personally sent Sheppard, His Christ, His Son Jesus.

Below is a list of verses instructing us to seek God, Jehovah:

Verse List

(All verses are from the JP Green Interlinear Bible)

Old Testament

Deut. 4:29 ”And if you shall seek Jehovah your God from there,

    then you shall find Him, if you seek Him with your whole

    heart and with all your soul.”

I Chron. 16:11 “Seek Jehovah and His strength, seek His face

    continually.”

I Chron. 22:19 “Now, give your heart and your soul to seek

    Jehovah your God…”

I Chron. 28:8 “…in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out

    all the commandments of Jehovah your God, that you may

    possess this good land…”

II Chron. 11:16 “…those who gave their heart to seek Jehovah

    the God of Israel…”

II Chron. 14:4 “And he commanded Judah to seek Jehovah the

    God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandments.”

II Chron. 15:2 “…Jehovah is with you while you are with Him.

   And if you seek Him, He Will be found by you. But if you

    forsake Him, He will forsake you.”

II Chron. 15:12 “And they entered into a covenant to seek Jehovah

    the God of their fathers with all their heart and all their soul.”

Ezra 8:22 “…The hand of our God is on all those who seek Him

    for good; but His power and His wrath are against all those who

    forsake him.”

Job 8:5 “if you would seek earnestly to God, and make your

    prayer to the Almighty.”

Psalm 9:10 “And those who know Your name will put their trust

   in You, for You, Jehovah, have not forsaken those who seek

   You.”

Psalm 14:2 “Jehovah looked down from heaven on the sons of

    men to see if there were any understanding and seeking God.”

Psalm 22:26 “…those who seek Jehovah shall praise Him; you

    heart shall live forever.”

Psalm 27:8 “My heart said to You, Seek my face; Your face, O

    Jehovah, I will seek."

Psalm 34:10 “…but they who seek Jehovah shall not lack any

    good thing.”

Psalm 63:1 “O God, You are my God; I earnestly seek You; my

   soul thirst for You…”

Psalm 69:32 “The humble who seek God, your heart shall live.”

Psalm 122:9 “Because of the house of Jehovah, our God, I will

    seek your good.”

Proverbs 8:17 “I love those who love Me, and those who seek

    Me early find Me.”

Proverbs 28:5 “Evil men do not understand justice, but those

    seeking Jehovah understand all.”

Isaiah 26:9 “…with my spirit within me, I diligently seek You.

    For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of

    the world learn righteousness.”

Isaiah 45:19 “…I did not say to Jacob’s seed, Seek Me in vain, I

    Jehovah speak righteousness, declaring right things.”

Isaiah 51:1 ”Hear Me, pursuers of righteousness, seekers of

    Jehovah; Look to the rock from which you were cut, and the

    hollow of the pit from which you were dug.”

Isaiah 54:17 “Every weapon formed against you shall not prosper,

    and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment, you

    shall condemn. This is the inheritance of the servants of

    Jehovah, and their righteousness is from Me, says Jehovah.”

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek Jehovah while he may be found; call on Him

    while He is near.”

Isaiah 58:2 “Yet they seek Me day by day and desire the

    knowledge the of My ways…”

Isaiah 65:10 “…a resting place of herds for My people who have

    sought Me.”

Jeremiah 29:13,14 “And you shall seek and find Me, when you

    search for me with all your heart. And I will be found by you

    says Jehovah…”

Jeremiah 50:4 “…declares Jehovah; they and the son of Judah

    together; going and weeping; they shall go and seek Jehovah

    their God.”

Lamentations 3:25 “Jehovah is good to those who wait for Him, to

    the soul seeking Him.”

Hosea 3:5 “…the sons of Israel shall return and seek Jehovah their

    God and David their King. And they shall fear Jehovah and his

    goodness in the end of the days.”

Hosea 5:15 “I will go; I will return to My place until they confess

    their guilt and seek My face. In their affliction they will seek me

    diligently.”

Hosea 10:12 "… in righteousness, reap as mercy. Break up your

    plowed ground. For it is time to seek Jehovah, until He comes

    and rains righteousness on you.”

Amos 5:4 “For so says Jehovah to the house of Israel: Seek Me

   and live.”

Zephaniah 2:3 “Seek Jehovah, all the meek of the earth who have

    done His justice; seek righteousness, seek meekness…”

Zechariah 8:21 “And the inhabitants of one shill go to another,

    saying, Let us go at once to seek the favor of the face of Jehovah

   and to seek Jehovah of host...”

Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I am sending My Messenger, and He will

    clear the way before Me and the Lord whom you are seeking

    shall suddenly come into the temple, even the Angle of the

    Covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He comes says

    Jehovah…”

New Testament

Matthew 6:33 & Luke 12:31 “But seek first the Kingdom of

    God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added

   to you.”

Acts 15:17 “so as the rest of men may seek the Lord, even all the

   nations on whom My name has been called, says the Lord,

    who is doing all these things.”

Acts 17:27 "to seek the Lord, if perhaps they might feel after

    Him and  might find Him, though indeed He not being far from

   each of us."

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please God.

    For it is right that the one drawing near to God should believe

   that He is,  and that He becomes a rewarder to the ones seeking

   Him out.”

   As you can see from the verses above that we are unquestionably charged to seek Jehovah, God Almighty, Creator and Father of us and the Father of Jesus, "Jesus said to her, do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father, but go to My brothers and say them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God." (John 20:17), and to seek all His good blessings. God, Jehovah has set up His system with His pure character imprinted throughout, everything outside His perfect system is contrary to God and must be avoided. This system has been present in Heaven, and will be present in the New Earth, and what is contrary to God's Kingdom will not be allowed in His pure environment. Seeking God means learning what this system is and why His system is pure, perfect and for our benefit. As we search God’s word, we should come to understand that all His commands and precepts are loving, just and fitting us to coexist with Him, Christ and the others who have made it their passion to seek the Kingdom of God. The transition from this life to the Kingdom life is to be implemented by us now, by our efforts in understanding God's way, and an acquired love for His government, which will cease to be laws, only because they will all be our desire, written in our minds and in our hearts. Seek Jehovah now! Any other time may be too late.