Diligence

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Jeremiah 29:13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Proverbs 8:17 I [Wisdom] love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me.

Hebrews 11:6 is so common a scripture to us that it’s hard sometimes to hear it with fresh ears. To help us do so, let’s take a look at the inverse idea in the passage. If we thought that God didn’t exist, for instance, it would be foolish to try and please Him. If we thought that seeking God would be painful, or would result in loss or harm, it would be the height of foolishness to even begin.

Well, we do believe that He is. But many of us no longer really believe that He is a rewarder of those of us who diligently seek Him. Our minds may not admit that, but our actions speak otherwise.

Perhaps we’ve gotten weary of seeking Him, and have grown lazy. What’s really happened is that we’ve stopped believing Him on this point. How many of us work extra jobs for extra money, or work diligently for a bonus? We work hard because we believe there is a reward. God has told us where there is a reward in Him.

When you’ve lost something, how desperate are you to find it? Sometimes we work for a while, but give up when we believe it’s no longer worth the effort. For things we consider important—a document, a key, or if I can stretch the metaphor to the breaking point, a child—we search and search until we find it. How desperate are you to find Him? He tells us how to do that—by seeking Him with our whole hearts.

Those of us who want His will above all else will diligently work to find His wisdom (see Proverbs above), as nothing else is a righteous substitute.

Have you grown lazy in seeking God, His face, or His wisdom? It’s easy to in this busy world, and it’s a top agenda item of our enemy to “help” us misplace our priorities and energies on lesser things. But God rewards our diligence in seeking Him. That’s a promise. We find Him when we put an emphasis on seeking Him. That’s a promise. And wisdom isn’t all that mysterious. It’s just a diligent search away. That’s a promise.

We have a certain storehouse of focus and energy in our lives. God has promised connection with Him and wisdom as we take that focus and energy from things that don’t reward and begin to direct those attentions toward Him.

Prayer: Father, help me to redirect my energies on seeking You and Your wisdom. Show me where I’ve misdirected my focus, and lead me to a renewed emphasis on You.