>>>

Deuteronomy 4:29 - Finding A Relationship With God.

Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV) But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

INTRODUCTION

Do you want to know God? God promised the Israelites that they would find him when they searched for him with all their hearts and souls. God is knowable and wants to be known - but we have to want to know him. Acts of service and worship must be accompanied by sincere love from the heart. As Hebrews 11: 6 says, "Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." Those who pursue a relationship with God will most certainly gain one. [Life Application SB 2019]

COMMENTARY PEARL

   If you will seek the Lord and be converted every day; ... all your murmurings will be stilled, all your difficulties will be removed, all the perplexing problems that now confront you will be solved.  MB 101
   The whole heart must be yielded to God, or the change can never be wrought in us by which we are to be restored to His likeness. By nature we are alienated from God. The Holy Spirit describes our condition in such words as these: "Dead in trespasses and sins;" "the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint;" "no soundness in it." We are held fast in the snare of Satan, "taken captive by him at his will." God desires to heal us, to set us free. But since this requires an entire transformation, a renewing of our whole nature, we must yield ourselves wholly to Him.  SC 43
   A union with Christ by living faith is enduring; every other union must perish. Christ first chose us, paying an infinite price for our redemption; and the true believer chooses Christ as first and last and best in everything. But this union costs us something. It is a union of utter dependence, to be entered into by a proud being. All who form this union must feel their need of the atoning blood of Christ. They must have a change of heart. They must submit their own will to the will of God. There will be a struggle with outward and internal obstacles. There must be a painful work of detachment as well as a work of attachment. Pride, selfishness, vanity, worldliness--sin in all its forms--must be overcome if we would enter into a union with Christ. The reason why many find the Christian life so deplorably hard, why they are so fickle, so variable, is that they try to attach themselves to Christ without first detaching themselves from these cherished idols.
   After the union with Christ has been formed, it can be preserved only by earnest prayer and untiring effort. We must resist, we must deny, we must conquer self. Through the grace of Christ, by courage, by faith, by watchfulness, we may gain the victory. 5T 231

COMMENTARY

   I'm afraid a lot of people who say they're Christians are really Christian atheists. They claim to believe in God, but they live as if he doesn't really exist. What they say they believe about God doesn't line up with their behavior and lifestyle. They say one thing and do another.
   How do you make sure you're not a Christian atheist?
   You get to know God and give your life to him.
   You let him change you from the inside out.
   If you don't know God well, you can. If you used to be close, you can be close again. Getting to know God is not difficult, and it's not about a bunch of rules. Yes, God wants your obedience, but he wants your heart even more. In addition to today's verse, he says over and over again in the Bible that if you seek him, you will find him (see Jer. 29:13; Matt. 7:7-8; Acts 17:27).
   God has been there all along. You can find him by reading your Bible. You can pray. You can spend time with him and learn more about who he really is and what he's really like. And as you begin to draw closer to him, you will quickly see that he's already running toward you, his beloved child.
   Get to know him and allow his presence to impact every area of your life, every day.
   Lord, I invite you into all areas of my life today so that I can know who you really are. [Daily Power by Craig Groeschel]

ILLUSTRATION

   It's apparently a universal (or nearly so) phenomenon: if a man needs to find something in the refrigerator, it will require the intervention of his wife. "Do we have any ketchup? Are we out of it?" On my best days, I walk to the refrigerator, stand beside my husband, point to the condiments shelf on the door of the fridge, and smile. On my less than best days, I add a sigh.
   "Where's the leftover chicken?"
   Sigh. Walk to the fridge. Move one thing - one - and point. "There it is."
   To me, the "moving one thing" part is the definition of searching. To my husband, if he doesn't find the item where he expects it to be, he assumes it's sabotage, he needs to file a missing whatever report, or it is unfindable. It's especially humorous if he couldn't find what he was looking for because it wasn't the color, shape, or size he expected.
   His inability to locate things used to bother me until I realized I'm guilty of the same attitude with Jesus far too often. If He isn't where I expect Him to be, do I move what's in the way or instead close the door and assume He's missing from the scene? Like a doctor's office? Or emergency room? Or funeral home? Or when paying bills?
   How often do I assume Jesus is unfindable because my circumstances are so bleak? Just like the ketchup that could readily be found by my husband in our fridge, I'm firmly convinced of this truth: Jesus wants to and can be found, even in unexpected places. I need only look. Cynthia Ruchti
   Faith Step: If today you find something hiding in plain sight, remind yourself of Jesus's eagerness to be found by seekers. [Mornings With Jesus 2025 Devotional by Guideposts and Zondervan]

LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY

Deuteronomy 4:29 - Finding God.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2012/20120325-1641.html

Jeremiah 29:13 - Seeking and Finding God.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2024/20241219-1551.html

Matthew 6:24 - You Cannot Compromise With God; It's All Or None.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2005/20051228-1202.html

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

https://abible.com/links/