IX - Diligence

Every one that truly seeks God finds Him. It is a promise from God.

(Matthew 7:7)  "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:"

It is an absolute. God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. If what you seek is gold, what is your reward? If what you seek is God, what is your reward? Do you have to be diligent in your search for gold if you are to find it? God is His own reward if you diligently seek Him. The power of the universe is in His Word! Paul the Apostle put it this way,

“I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ…That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection…”

Not gold, not heaven, not even eternal life! Paul wanted the giver, not the gift! Faith makes that possible. Faith is the special lens that lets me understand God’s treasure map! If I am to acquire the treasure, however, I must search diligently. A half-hearted search is no search at all.

(Psalms 119:10)  "With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments."

God is jealous of his children’s love.

(Deuteronomy 5:9-10)  "Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, {10} And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments."

God will not tolerate half-heartedness. God tested Abraham’s faith to the limit. He asked for the one thing that perhaps could have been dearer to Abraham than God, his son, Isaac. However, Abraham did not hesitate, but rose early in the morning. (Genesis 22) Because of his devotion to God, Abraham is called “The Friend of God.”

(James 2:23)  "And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God."

Are we God’s friends? Incidentally, this is the first place in the Word of God where the words “love” and “worship” are found. (See vs. 2, 5) Incredible faith memorialized in several New Testament passages! (Rm.4, Gal. 3, James 2) Faith cannot be feigned! God knows all!

(Hebrews 4:12)  "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

You can’t fool God! Faith believes the Word of God absolutely! Faith alone saves! If it were not alone, you would be adding your works to the works of Christ on the cross, thus defiling it. Only Christ could do the righteous work of salvation. Our gift of faith in His work is what saves us.

(Titus 3:5-6)  "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; {6} Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

We then do the works of righteousness (obedience to God’s Word) produced by our faith.

(John 14:15)  "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

If we truly love God, we will keep His commandants.

(1 John 4:19)  "We love him, because he first loved us."

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

 

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

 

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

 

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

- George Mattheson