December 3, 2021 - Advent Week 1
SEEK THE LORD…
Who Are You Seeking? – Mark Lawrence
Amos 5:1-17
American artist Mark Lawrence specializes in Bible verse inspired contemporary Christian abstract paintings. On his website Lawrence says, “I am driven by a mission and a vision to share God’s Word with the billions of searching people who need Jesus in their lives".
I have to admit that I was not familiar with the first of today’s readings or the history behind Amos’ call or what it had to do with Advent. But what was clear to me is that four times in this short passage we find the word “seek” - three times it is used as an encouragement and one time as a warning. As I read and re-read these verses, I came to realise that this was the center of the Holy Spirit’s message to me that day and I hope you can glean something from these my ramblings.
We are in the first week of Advent and it is the week of “Hope” or prophecy. This fifth chapter of Amos sounds discouraging at first read, but hope is threaded in between the words of this lamentation. At this time in history the Jewish nation had fallen away from God. The prophet Amos was pointing out their sins, encouraging repentance, admonishing them to return to their God, and to remain hopeful as they search for the coming Messiah.
From Amos 5: 1-17
Seek me and live.
Seek the LORD and live.
Seek good, not evil, that you may live.
Do not seek Bethel (Bethel, which translated meant “house of God” had at this point in time, become a place of Baal worship with a golden calf set up in the city’s temple).
For me, the word “seek” links to many stories and parables and historical records from both the Old and New Testaments. As we are now in this Advent season, naturally we think of the shepherds hearing the angelic calling, leaving their flocks and seeking out our Lord Jesus. We think of the wise men searching the stars and their records and embarking on long journeys to seek and search for the Messiah. We remember Simeon and Anna who were waiting at the temple in expectant hope of seeing the promised coming Messiah. All seeking, searching, watching, hoping.
What does the word “seek” mean to you? Here’s some definitions I found:
SEEK: Search, Hunt (Merriam-Webster definitions)
SEEK: seek with pleasure or delight, search, or consult, inquire, to examine intimately, an encountering, be up early at any task; to search for with painstaking effort, (Hebraic versions).
We are all seeking something but why are we built that way? I believe that we all have been gifted with a desire to seek something better, more, pleasurable, pure, lovely, loveable. This is one of the remnants of the original Adam on our souls. Some refer to that as a “God-shaped hole” in the soul. It’s one of the things that separates us from the other creatures we share this amazing planet with. People are always searching for something more. Some seek wisely, others unwisely. And this search is a life-long search for most of us. This time of the year it is all too easy to lose sight of Advent as we are inundated with other things to “seek”. That perfect gift, the perfect meal, the perfect family gathering, the perfect vacation; the perfect home or car or clothes or spouse or friend or whatever. We’re always seeking and always being encouraged by society to seek more and more “perfects”.
For Christians, seeking and searching needs to be focused on the Lord: Seek the LORD while he wills to be found, call upon him while he is near. Isaiah 55:6
How best to seek the LORD? Obviously in prayer, reading His Word, through reflection, fellowship, and meditation. But we can always ask Him to open our eyes to the things around us. What we consider the common things in this world are not common to Him. His fingerprints can be seen everywhere, in everything and in everyone you meet. Just ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes.
This Advent season is to be a season of waiting, hoping, and seeking the coming or our Emmanuel, God with us. But as we wait for his coming let us take time to search our own hearts and seek out and reject those things which are not pure, lovely or loveable in our lives. Let us reflect on the true motives behind our life-long searching and I guarantee that when your eyes are opened you will find that in seeking God, you will understand that the whole time, HE has been seeking you.
For the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost Mat 18:11
I love this quote from C.S. Lewis: “Of course God does not consider you hopeless. If He did, He would not be moving you to seek Him (and He obviously is)…Continue seeking Him with seriousness. Unless He wanted you, you would not be wanting Him.”
Oh come, Emmanuel.
- Jim and Pat Poriz
