Hey guys! I hope you’re having a very good October. We’ve been fighting colds here, but otherwise it’s been a good month. A bit of a convicting one too, in a way that makes me a little bit excited for the change. 

My best friend and I have been having our Bible study discussions again and we’ve both been feeling this call against being lukewarm with God. Against just performing for Him. To bring our hearts more into the relationship. Maybe you’ve been feeling the same. 

Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking about the idea of our job being to know Him and make Him known. We serve a God of community. One who wants nothing more than us. For us to know Him, for us to love Him like He knows and loves us. 

God is so genuine and sincere about wanting a relationship with us, like a real relationship. The Bible is full of invitations from Him to come close, to get to know Him. One of my favorite verses is one of these invitations. It’s Jeremiah 29:14 and it comes on the tail end of God calling the people of Israel to seek Him, to know Him. He promises, “I will be found by you.” I love that. And I found a verse while reading in Isaiah earlier this month that reiterates this promise and gets to the heart of what it means. It’s Isaiah 45:19 and it says “I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain.’” 

He doesn’t have us seeking Him in vain. He promises to be found by us. God’s not hiding from us. He’s not playing a game with us. He’s so serious when He says to get to know Him. That’s the most sincere invitation in existence and we tend to take it as a maybe. As if He didn’t really mean it. No way we’re worth that much individual attention from the Creator of the Universe. A lot of times it feels like we need Him to offer it two or three or a thousand more times before we actually believe Him. 

But He has offered this same invitation several times throughout scripture. The entirety of the Bible is God calling us to seek Him. To know Him. To be with Him. I found another one while reading 1 Chronicles. In chapter 28, verses 9 and 10, David is giving his son Solomon the charge to build a house for the sanctuary and he tells him the same thing. “If you seek Him, He will be found by you.” 

David tells Solomon to “be careful,” to “be strong and do it.” To be intentional. To not let any kind of fear get in the way of doing the job that the Lord has given Him, which was to build a place for people to get to know the Lord. A place which would have His name attached to it, to make Him known throughout the world. That was Israel’s job as God’s own people. This is our job while we’re here on earth as well. 

Jesus gave us the great commission in Matthew 28:18-20 when He left earth to return to Heaven with the Lord. To make disciples. To direct others to God while we’re here. To be unafraid, remembering that He’s “with [us] always, to the end of the age” as He reminds us in that same charge to make disciples. He knows we’ll be scared. We’ll see the circumstances of the world and forget. But He is with us. To the end of the age. He doesn’t send us out alone. 

James 5:7-9 reminds us as well to take it seriously. Our walk with Him isn’t a Sunday stroll, but a trek. James tells us to “be patient… until the coming of the Lord.” To “establish [our] hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” He says that God is “standing at the door.” Get serious with God. Don’t take Him lightly. Trust Him when He says to seek Him. He means it. 

Jesus is coming back soon. He says so in His word. Seek Him. Direct others to Him. Know Him. Make Him known. Don’t be afraid to take Him up on His invitation. He says in Isaiah 55:6, “seek Him while He may be found.” 

Believe Him when He says He wants you to know Him. It’s not an invitation for everyone else besides you. He really does love you, individually, that much. John 3:16-17 says that God sent His beloved Son to give up His life for you, not to condemn anyone, but to ensure that you’re able to be with Him. He doesn’t want to lose you, but it’s up to you to take Him up on that. He won’t force you. 

It’s such a crazy love that He offers us, to have our sins washed away by nothing of our doing. It seems too good to be true. But it’s the truest thing out there. 

He loves you more than life itself. Don’t be scared of being too serious about it or being fooled at the end. God is truth Himself. Life Himself. His word will not be unfulfilled. He is coming back and He wants you to be a part of that.