Wherefore Art Thou, Jesus? Part III.

“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13.

In part two we saw that the gospel offer is given to us “without restriction, without restraint and without qualification”, which is to be the foundation upon which we build our search for Jesus, whether already a Christian or not.

Yet here in Jeremiah 29:13, in a promise that God offers to His people, we find a guarantee that we will find God when we seek God – but when we seek God with all our heart.

Now hang on…

Isn’t that a requirement, or even a qualification? Is this not a payment of sorts that we must give to God to enable us to find Him, or to enable Him to be found by us? Lets quickly consider what is happening in Jeremiah 29...

The nation of Israel were currently suffering exile in Babylon as a punishment for breaking the covenant agreement that they had made with God in Deuteronomy 11. In fact, God had clearly warned that in this covenant (of grace, remember) God was “setting before you today a blessing and a curse – the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known” (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).

Israel had disobeyed the commands of the Lord their God and they had turned away from Him to follow other gods; and despite many warnings sent to them by God through various prophets they hadn’t listened… and so came the curse – exile from the beautiful land that God had freely given to them.

But now, with an act of grace upon grace, God was offering His people a chance to return to Him – promising that He would be found by them, if they sought after Him with all of their heart. God was also promising that He would even restore them back to their own land. If it was possible for them to drown in grace, they would.

Now, then, we can return back to the matter at hand…

Does the requirement of needing to search for God with all of our heart contradict the freeness of the offer to come to Jesus? The answer to that question is: absolutely not. The gracious offer to come to Jesus is still freely offered to us.

The requirement, of needing to search for God with all of our hearts, that is attached to the promise of God, however, has everything to do with one thing, and one thing alone – and that thing is the worth of Jesus Christ.

Do you remember the institution of marriage that God gave to the human race in Genesis 2:24? The uniting of the man to the woman and them becoming one flesh that is mentioned there is the mutual and total giving of oneself to the other. In Ephesians 5:28 we see that a husband who “loves his wife loves himself” – and that is because he has given his whole self to her. But Paul then tells us that he isn’t really just talking about marriage by talking about marriage but he is talking about the love that Jesus has for His people (v.32).

So if Jesus loves us so much that He has united Himself to us by giving Himself up for us and by giving Himself to us – can we ever think that we can then give ourselves to Jesus half-heartedly (or three quarters-ly, or anything less than wholly)?

First, think about Jesus’ Person – the beloved Son of God; the spotless Lamb; the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords; the King of heaven; the radiance of the glory of God.

Second, think about Jesus’ atoning work – His sacrifice at Calvary; His carrying the curse that was yours by right; His suffering; His pain; His anguish; His death… all for you!

And then if you do not desire to give your whole heart to Jesus then you do not truly desire Him at all.

It is as simple as that.

It is as serious as that.

If we are not seeking for Jesus with our whole hearts then why not?

Why not?

And if we are not, then we just have to simply admit that we do not truly desire, truly love, or truly appreciate the beloved Son of God as we ought.

When Adam and Eve were placed in the beautiful garden of Eden and were offered all of the beautiful fruit in that garden to eat and enjoy, when they were then given one tree with which it was forbidden to eat the fruit of they were given a chance – a chance to show their love and their gratitude back toward their God.

When God says that we must seek for Him with all of our hearts to be able to find Him we are also given that same chance – a chance to show our love, and appreciation, and thankfulness to God for who He is and for what He has done.

Does your search for Jesus involve the whole of your heart? You must ask yourself that question because it is at this point that so many searches for Him fail.

I would like to close this section with a personal note to my brothers and sisters at Bradley Road. We have been called to participate in a day of prayer together on Good Friday (10th April 2020). I would merely like to encourage you to take this call to prayer as an opportunity to seek for the Lord with all your heart as we petition Him with the matters listed. Fasting is an expression of this whole-hearted seeking (a short burst of it, as it were, to help us on the way); and dedicating ourselves to a prolonged period of prayer is the same.

We have been given a wonderful opportunity here to put our love and desire for Jesus into action and into practice.

Matthew Henry, in his excellent commentary, points out that this promise (of finding God when we seek for Him with all our hearts) is actually given to us to encourage us to seek Him in prayer. In fact, in the previous verse God Himself says, “Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you” (Jeremiah 29:12).

What a wonderful encouragement that is to us.

Grace upon grace.

If it were possible for us to drown in grace, we would.