“God being who He is must always be sought for Himself, never as a means toward something else. Whoever seeks other objects and not God is on his own; he may obtain those objects if he is able, but he will never have God.
Whoever seeks God as a means toward desired ends will not find God. The mighty God, the Maker of heaven and earth, will not be one of many treasures, not even the chief of all treasures.
He will be all in all or He will be nothing!
His mercy and grace are infinite and His patient understanding is beyond measure, but He will not aid men in their selfish striving after personal gain. He will not help man to attain ends which, when attained, usurp the place He by every right should hold in their interest and affection.
Yet popular Christianity has as one of its most effective talking points the idea that God exists to help people to get ahead in this world. The God of the poor has become the God of an affluent society. We hear that Christ no longer refuses to be a judge or a divider between money-hungry brothers. He can now be persuaded to assist the brother that has accepted him to get the better of the brother who has not!
The first and greatest commandment is to love God with every power of our entire being. Where love like that exists there can be no place for a second object. If we love God as much as we should, surely we cannot dream of a loved object beyond Him which He might help us to obtain!
Being who He is, God is to be loved for His own sake. He is the reason for our loving Him, just as He is the reason for His loving us and for every other act He has performed, is performing, and will perform world without end. God’s primary reason for everything is His own good pleasure. The search for secondary reasons is gratuitous and mostly futile. It affords occupation for theologians and adds pages to books on doctrine, but that it ever turns up any true explanations is doubtful.
Those who have been spiritually enabled to love God for Himself will find a thousand fountains springing up from the rainbow-circled throne and bringing countless treasures which are to be received with reverent thanksgiving as being the overflow of God’s love for His children. Each gift is a bonus of grace which because it was not sought for itself may be enjoyed without injury to the soul. These include the simple blessings of life, such as health, a home, a family, congenial friends, food, shelter, the pure joys of nature or the more artificial pleasures of music and art.” ~A. W. Tozer, Man: the Dwelling Place of God
“Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began, and let the Lord be all in all to you.” ~C. H. Spurgeon, All of Grace
Seeking God in order to accomplish, receive, or profit some end in our lives, such as whether it is to have prayers answered for things we desire, or to receive specific blessings we long for, or to simply satisfy some self-righteous complex we conjured up to make ourselves feel like we are closer to God will never reveal more of him—only less and less. God will not give himself to be found under the motive of Self. If we pursue God in order to receive a prize, a reward, or some betterment, we pursue in vain. The only prize that awaits us is his calling to be reconciled to him and enjoy his eternal presence, and many might find such a reward disappointing. If we occupy our time desiring God under the guise of achieving better living, we come before God on account of ourselves and not for him. Our purpose is inward, selfish, and impure. We do not seek God in order to find HIM—we seek him in order to get something from him. How many of us have come to him with a heart expecting foremost to receive from the great Provider everything we ask, but in doing so we have tragically missed the expectation of his heart. That he alone is a great enough prize to be sought after, that we need no other reason to seek him, that we need no other purpose except to lose ourselves in his love and majesty. But oh how conceited we become when we are all about ourselves and not about him.
A pure heart seeking God is satisfied by being in the presence of the Creator apart from anything else. If their life circumstances remained forever the same, they still strive to commune with the Creator because of who he is. But he is a Jealous God and will not give himself to be found along with other objects. If you seek God FOR blessings, meaning if you have the goal of receiving blessings because you have extended yourself toward God, you forfeit both. God will not share his glory with self-serving intentions. Rather, we seek God exclusively, without compulsion, without ulterior motive, without the prospect of self-betterment. If we empty ourselves, God will bestow unspeakable blessings. They might not be the blessings we ask for, but that should never matter or else we are seeking the blessings rather than the One who blesses. God knows our frame, he understands our trials, he has been with us every step of the way, but he will not be placed in the shadow of deliverance. God will give what we need, God will give what is good, and God will give when it pleases him.
The tendency of believers who lose sight of the majesty of God is to diminish his greatness and render him like their personal vendor. In doing so, they erroneously substitute the true God for a false image of him that they have constructed in their minds. They think that if they put the right money in, they are entitled to receive the purchased item. That is to say, if they pray enough, believe enough, or study enough, they will be able to lay claim to what God has promised, as though their self-works are the condition upon which God’s promises are secured. When did God become a God that obeys our call? When did God become a God placed under our scrutiny? When did God become a God that is moved to act based on human volition. When did God get demoted to the position of our servant?
God’s goodness is part of his innate character. He need not be persuaded or enticed by us to give us all good things. He does it according to the good pleasure of his will. We simply must trust that he is who he says he is and rest in his grace. If we seek God first, without a second thought about what blessings may come our way, we will find him and we will find his goodness. God awaits for the heart that desires him, for the heart that yearns to be closer even if that is all there that is gained. But God will not give way for our heart to be divided toward him. God will be ALL or he will be nothing! ~JW
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.
5They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.
Thank you for these words. How true they are. How much of my time with God have I spent seeking His hand before seeking His face…only to discover that HE is the blessing.
I re-read this post of yours yesterday as I was waiting for an answer to prayer and realized that God was using it to answer my prayer…..reminding me of His goodness, His faithfulness, and that there is no way that I could know better than He what I need…..including in answers to prayer. 🙂 And what I really needed yesterday was to “trust that he is who he says he is and rest in his grace.”