End Game (Ten Years Later)
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 NASB 1995
Search – Thirty days of self-examination. Thirty days of drawing closer, of recognizing the grace of the Father, the mystery of His care and concern, the depths of our need. Thirty days to begin something new again.
We have examined this verse many times (click here). You might think there isn’t much more to say but Isaiah disagrees. In Isaiah 11:10, we who were once far off (namely, Gentiles) will be the ones who will seek the Messiah as King of all God’s children. With Isaiah’s context we learn that every act of seeking the Kingdom is eschatological, that is to say, every time we fulfill a commandment or act with righteous intent, we are at the same time announcing the coming reign of the Messiah and the return of God’s rule to the earth. On this last day of our brief journey we discover one more reason, one further motivation for pressing to the limit with the help of God’s spirit. It isn’t only that we matter to God. What we do matters to the restoration of God’s reign. God has given over to us the final chapter in the return to well-being. We seek Him in order to find who we are and why we matter. He seeks us in order to bring about the restoration. The reason we pursue Him is because He pursues us. The end game is a double-edged search. It is the universe and the Creator in search of an answer. The only question left to you and me is this: Will you join Him?
Will we journey together? We will allow Him to find us? Will we become comrades in the quest?
It is quite impossible to say now how this journey will go and who will come along. In the end, that really doesn’t seem to matter too much. Today I can experience the surprise of discovering that God is seeking me, and that I am searching intently for Him. Today I can be doubly aware of those patterns that divert me from His fellowship on the way. Today I can act with selfless abandonment. Today is the day I can reset the clock, experience the wonder of living and find love in my heart for His grace.
God is calling. “Whom shall we send?”
Hinnēni
Topical Index: search, darash, hinnēni, Isaiah 11:10, Jeremiah 29:13
Hearing the voice of the LORD in the garden (after eating the fruit) Adam sought to hide himself, fearing exposure. Yet the futility of mankind’s attempt to hide himself from God’s purview demonstrates the very nature of his transgression… that is, the separation that results from indifference to the expressed will of God, followed by disloyalty and infidelity.
God’s query, “Where are you?” in seeking Adam was not with reference to Adam’s physical location; rather, it was directed towards Adam’s availability… the character of Adam’s being able to be used or obtained, which had obviously been undermined… tragically, even so as to be compromised.
This begs the very consequential questions that needs to be asked by each and every person— “Today can I be doubly aware of those patterns that divert me from His fellowship on the way? Today can I act with selfless abandonment?
Hinnēni… “Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say, “Here… I AM!” (see Isaiah 58:9)