Devotional for Monday Apr 17, 2006: What God Seeks
Greg Laurie Senior Pastor Harvest Christian Fellowship Riverside, Ca
"What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?"
As Christians, we often say, "Ever since I found the Lord. . . ." And of course, what we really mean is there was a point in our lives where we discovered there is a God who loves us. It was like finding Him. But we do not "find" the Lord; He finds us. God was not lost; we were. If you're a believer today, the reason is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, sought you out. He looked for you. He found you. As Jesus told us in the story of the shepherd with the 100 sheep, He left the 99 and went after the stray (see Matthew 18:12–13).
There is another thing God is seeking, and the answer is found in John 4, in the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. As they were discussing worship, Jesus told her, "'But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him'" (John 4:23).
True worship is not merely the singing of worship songs. Rather, it is living our lives in a way that is pleasing to God. In fact, our singing and our prayers are just the outward manifestations of a life daily lived for the glory of God.
What is God looking for today? He is looking for true worshipers. He is seeking such to worship Him.
