Have you ever allowed someone to win a game you were playing? How about hide and seek? Would you be surprised to know that God allows us to win at hide and seek?
The Book of 1 Chronicles, chapter 28, is the record of David turning over the kingdom of Israel to his son Solomon. He gives him instructions and advice.
One of my favorite verses in the whole Bible lies within this chapter. It’s a part of verse 9, in which David says to Solomon:
If you seek God, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
I love this verse for a couple of reasons. First, it teaches me that I must seek God to find Him. But better than that, the verse teaches me that if I seek God, I WILL find Him. How encouraging this teaching is to all generations who have ever wanted to know God. It’s possible! The opportunity exists. It encouraged me because I want to know God. David tells me that I can find Him if I seek Him.
The second things that I love about this verse is what it reveals about God. Notice that it says, If you seek God, He will let you find Him;
What does this teach us about God? It teaches us that He wants us to find Him! He desires to be found by you and me. But it also teaches that if He did not allow me to find Him, it would not be possible.
He didn’t have to make it possible to find him. It’s not our right to get to find Him. He’s our creator, He can do with His creation whatever He chooses to do and there’s nothing we can do about that.
But what an awesome God we have that he desires a relationship with us.
But then there’s the other side of the verse, the warning part: but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
I think the most important question to answer after reading the second half of the verse is, “What does that word “forsake” mean exactly?
It comes from the Hebrew word “azab,” and can be translated as forsake, leave, refuse, abandon, let go, desert or depart. The encouragement is to seek God and He will allow you to find Him. The warning is that when you are given the opportunity to seek God but you instead forsake Him, leave Him, refuse Him, abandon Him, let go of Him, desert Him or depart from Him, you will miss out on Him and the consequence of missing out on God is eternal rejection by God.
God wants to play hide and seek. He wants to play with you. He wants you to win. It’s more than winning a game, it’s finding God.
Much love!
Wes LeFlore (918) 607-8489 or huskerwes1@gmail.com
