Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:12-13
Last time we drew our attention to Jeremiah 29:11 which says, “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Today’s verses follow right on the heels of that promise. Last night I saw this meditation which I wrote 5 years ago on the same verses and it fit well with our theme of our identity and practicing kindness. So I’m reproducing it here. You see, God’s plan is active and He calls his people to actively pursue it. And Kindness is what happens when we’re pursuing our identity in Jesus.
God is telling His people: I’ve got a good plan for you (v29), here are some things you can do
1. CALL to Me. God is calling us according to His purpose, Paul writes (Rom 8:28). In keeping with the purpose and plan God has for us, He calls us. But He wants us to call out to Him. “the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him (Rom 10:12). Calling on God is both simple and profound. It was so central to the identity of Christians in the early Church that they were referred to as “those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 9:14, et al., 1 Cor 1:2)
Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (v. 13) but He wants us to keep calling. He considers it an honor for us to call upon Him. Through the prophet Isaiah God rebuked the people, “I formed a people for myself that they might declare my praise. Yet you did not call upon me, but you have grown tired of me” (Is. 43:21,22). Are we tired of calling on Jesus? Is worship wearisome? Are we bored in the Lord? Call on His Name!
2. COME to Me. God wants us to come—actively pursue Him. Jesus told us, “Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me” (Jn 6:45). He has a plan that that we “come to (Him) hear (His) words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built” (Lk 6:47,48)
Jesus promises “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest,” (Mt 11:28). God has a plan for us to come to Him, embrace His cross as well as His rest, and learn from Him (v 29)
3. SEEK Me. Don’t be satisfied with the level of relationship you have with Jesus. All through the Bible we’re called to set our mind and heart on God. It is the conscious fixing or focusing of our mind’s attention and our heart’s craving on God (1 Chron 22;19; Col 3:1,2). It’s a conscious choice. It is a conscious choice to direct our hearts toward God.
Seeking God is the opposite of spiritual coasting; a conscious choice to get around the constant obstacles that obscure Him—things that crowd our lives—in order to see Him more clearly. Fleeing spiritually dulling activities. Seeking involves calling and pleading, “I long to see your face. O Lord, open my eyes. Pull back the curtain of my own blindness. Have mercy and reveal yourself.”
Hebrews declares, “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (11:6). When we call out to God, God is faithful to answer. When we call out to Him, God promises to come to us.