What Do You Seek?

John 1:38-39 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

What do we seek? Why do we follow Jesus? What is our motive? Throughout the Gospels we see that people had different motives for seeking Jesus. He did not ask the question for His sake, for the Lord already knows man and what is in man's heart. The question should make us take a step back and consider why we seek the Lord. God's desire is that we seek to have an intimate relationship with Him; a relationship that drives us to seek him with the same desire expressed in the Psalms, "As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants for You." (Psalms 42) Our desire and motivation for seeking the Lord should be, first and foremost, intimacy. Out of that intimacy will come worship, obedience, and service. Even though these two disciples walked after Jesus, in response to John the Baptist's words, "Behold the Lamb of God", it was Jesus who first engaged them. God has a desire to engage us, but He first wants us to put our eyes on Him. He promised that if we seek Him, we will find Him. In the "burning bush" account, God did not engage Moses until he put his eyes on the bush and drew closer. God promised that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. Today, are we hearing from the Lord? Is He engaging us or is He waiting for us to take our eyes off the things the world is using to distract us? Where is our attention? What is stirring our desires? Let us stop right now, and consider that maybe the silence we are experiencing from God has to do with the fact that we have put our attention on everything and everyone, except the Lord Himself. Let us truly reconsider why we are seeking after Him, and be ready to give an honest answer when Jesus asks, "What do you seek?"

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Romans 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Romans 10:13)