Isaiah 55:6-7 "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (7) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
When do we seek after our car keys? Is it not when we need them? Until we need
them, we don't even give the car keys a second thought. That's a pitiful
example, I know, but when is it that we tend to seek the Lord? Is it not
when we, in our humanity, feel the most need for Him? Usually it is when we get
sick or when we are up against something that is bigger than us?
"Lord, I can't handle this. I can't control this. This thing is too
big for me. I need you." If we are honest with ourselves, that is the way
our prayers go, all too often. I guess as I have gotten older, I have
seen more of a need to simply say, "Thank you, Lord" or "I love
you , Lord." I wish I could tell you that I have perfected those
prayers, but in the past couple years I have really been drawn to those phrases
in my prayers. Don't get me wrong, I still pray the "car keys"
prayers also.
There is a second part to today's thoughts. God has promised that He can be
found and that he is near. The next question is this: What do we do when we
find Him? God tells us that we are to forsake our way; that is, we are to
repent from our unrighteous ways of living. We are not only to expect Him to
come to us, but we are to turn away from the things of the world and return to
God. He has promised mercy and grace to help in our times of need. He has
promised to pardon us from our sins. But notice the order in which that occurs.
We are to humble ourselves, pray to Him, seek His face, and turn from our
wicked ways, then we experience His pardon. This promise is repeated
throughout the Word of God. Is it not to our advantage if we will follow these
instructions? After all, we do not need our car keys 24 hours a day, but we do
need God every moment of every day for all our lives.