The seeking God

Read Ezekiel 34:11-16

11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them,so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries,and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel,in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture,and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land,and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down,declares the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak,but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. (NIV)

The great basic difference between Christianity and other faiths is that those other faiths mostly focus on our search for God. Christianity focuses instead on his search for us. This passage is about God not giving up on the people of Israel who were then in exile. While it was a prophecy of their coming back to their homeland,it goes further than that. It is a reminder of the fact that God goes looking for his people to bring them back to himself.

If we were to rely simply on our own cleverness or insights or piety in order to get to God we would never make it. But God has taken the first step; the shepherd has gone looking for his lost sheep. If we find ourselves crying out to him,seeking him,then it is only because he has already prompted us to do so. He always has the initiative.

We may have wandered far away,just about given up on him. But no one is so far gone that they are not welcomed back. And while we may give up on him,he never gives up on us. Those who seek him will find him,because he has already found them.

Blessings
David Reay