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Resolve to Seek Him


We are two days into 2019, and if you are like many other Christians, you have resolved that this will be the year you finally stick to some sort of Scripture reading plan. There are a variety of these plans available that range from focusing on specific parts of Scripture to reading through the entire Bible once or even twice this year (if you haven't started find one here). Today, I want to encourage you not only to stick with the reading plan that you have selected but more importantly remember why you are reading... to seek Him.


On day two, hopefully, you don't need too much encouragement to pick up your Bible and spend some time reading, but a few weeks from now, your resolve might start to waver. It might be that you are pressed for time, finding it can be difficult to escape from everything that competes for your time and attention, or maybe you are discouraged because as you read things aren't as clear as you thought they would be, in fact, some of what you are reading is hard to understand. In a few weeks, when you think, maybe this won't be the year, maybe I can't do this.


Don't Panic. You're not alone. Hang in there.


First, let me encourage you to take a deep breath and relax a little, life happens. When you feel like there are days that things are spiraling out of control, go to sleep and wake up realizing you missed a day (or two), remember that God still loves you, he already approves of you based on the finished work of Jesus. God doesn't love you any more or any less based on how long your reading streak lasts, he loves you because he has decided to love you from eternity past (Eph 1:3-10). In other words, before he ever created the earth, you were a target of his love. God himself has pursued you, and that is a love that can't be ignored, that is a love that continues to draw us to God, even after we miss a day of our reading plan.

Second, let me encourage you to keep digging even when there are days "you don't get it." There are passages of Scripture that you may read that will be difficult to understand, and if we are honest, passages that can be "less enjoyable" to read through, but God's word is full of promises regarding those who seek him, and they never end in disappointment (Jer 29:13, Matt 7:7-8). Be encouraged by the faithfulness of God found in these verses. God is not trying to hide from you, he wants to be found, he desires to open doors, he enjoys revealing himself to those pursuing him.

I remember in school, specifically in math class, that as the teacher would lead us through solving these complex equations that there were moments when my brain hurt, it was like I was in a fog. I could see the big picture, the beginning, and the end; but the middle was still fuzzy sometimes. It turns out, that as a young believer reading through Scripture, it was not uncommon to find myself again in a similar fog. Again, I could see the big picture but wasn't sure what things in Leviticus had to do with Jesus. Later, I found out that not only did Leviticus have a lot to do with Jesus, but the entire Bible had everything to do with Jesus, it was all about him!

Sure, it took a while to learn that, and I am still learning, but on those days that I hit the fog again, I just keep pressing in. I keep asking, seeking and knocking and eventually, the fog begins to clear, and for a moment, I get a glimpse of the one I was seeking in all of his glory and majesty, and it is a wonderful sight!

So keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. He is faithful and he is glorious.




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