Tuesday Reflection – May 26, 2020 The Wise Seek God

Tuesday Reflection – May 26, 2020
The Wise Seek God

Two weeks ago, I spoke about godly wisdom. The idea was that we should always pray for a spirit of wisdom to guide us in our everyday endeavors. Wisdom does not originate with us, it is a gift of God. Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom. Wisdom, when received, should be employed in ways that please God and draw us closer to God,. Today’s watchword from Psalm 14: 2 supports this. The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.

Contrasted to this verse is the first verse of Psalm 14 which states: The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. While the fool rejects the knowledge and experience of the existence of God, the wise will seek after God, even through uncertainty. What brought creation to this point though? What brought us to the point where the created can reject the existence of the creator. The answer is simple and yet complex. Sin! Since the fall in Eden, humanity has constantly existed in sin. “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Ecc 7: 20. We all are born with the propensity to be lost in a life of ungodliness, of sinfulness. This is the reality of life in this earthly realm. No matter how hard we try we will constantly fall to sin. Sin is defined as ‘missing the mark’ (literal translation from the Greek ‘hamartia’). The best of us constantly fall short of God’s standard for life, God’s laws. We ‘miss the mark’. God looks to find a righteous human being but alas there is none: ‘For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God’. Rom 3: 23. Is there no hope for us? Are we all doomed to be lost forever? A complete reading of Psalm 4 has David acknowledging God’s protection of the righteous, God being the refuge of the disparaged, and God sending salvation for His people. While some may have rebelled and gone on to live godless lives, those who pursue righteousness will have God on their side. Indeed, those who seek the Lord will find him.

What make the difference in all this? The text says ‘the Lord looks’. Picture the Prodigal Son who decided to return home to beg his father’s forgiveness and employment as a servant. Here’s what I love about this parable. While the son was still a far way off, his father saw him and ran to meet him. It tells me that this father was always on the lookout for his son even though that same son had rejected his ways and wandered off. God looks out for us in the same way, and even when we stray, he offers us a way back to him. This is grace. John Stott describes grace as ‘love that cares and stoops and rescues.’ Grace is mercy. In a world which is fast embracing the rule of karma, grace stands as its opposite. Karma give back what we deserve, a payback. Grace is rendering to us what we do not deserve. Romans 5: 20 reminds us, where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. Grace is about God and not about us. God looks, and those who wisely seek Him are quickly identified and covered by His grace. Through grace, God cares, stoops and rescues us from sin. I am humbled by the thought that the only difference between the wise and the fool, the one who seeks God and the one who rejects God, is God’s grace. Friends, this Grace is available to all but receivable only by those who seek God. The foolish who reject God will be eternally rejected in the soon coming judgement. I pray that we all will in wisdom constantly seek God so as to be found by Him. Amen.

Bevon White