Seek – His Words

”Seek first the Kingdom of God” Matthew 6:33

Seek to go in search of, to look for, to try to discover. Seek is an action verb.

In these days of Covid, social distancing and quarantine can weigh heavily on many. But, it doesn’t have to. I challenge everyone to change your mindset from “I’m alone in quarantine and don’t have daily Mass” etc, to “its me and You God, let’s get close”

Seeking out God in His righteousness – “But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”. To seek God’s righteousness means that our behavior is holy. Our actions and words conform to God’s commandments. God promises that if God is the priority of our lives in everything, including our behavior, then He is with us. One can only be righteous by knowing the Scriptures–what He wrote–and then by obeying what God commanded.  Seeking the Lord means we are pursuing a relationship with the true God, learning what He wrote, obeying Him and consulting His will in everything. This results in God being your first priority in every way.

Take this time to ‘make a retreat’ and build habits in God. Seek Him out in His Holy Scripture. The only way we can truly get to know God and the depth of His love for us, is to read it in the Bible. The soul needs to become a student of God’s love to truly start to understand how much He truly loves the soul. I’ve never been a great student or had good study habits. The good news is that you don’t have to be a straight A student to get to know God through His Word.

Just pick up your Bible and spend some time in it each day. Set aside time, shut off the TV and other distractions of the day. This is a mini-retreat that you can make each day. It can be 10 minutes or an hour, whatever you can handle to begin. As you spend this time, resting in His Word, you may find that time growing longer.

For me, the best thing I did to help with this ‘retreat’ time was to cancel the cable TV subscription. TV is a major distraction in our lives that furiously and jealously eats up our time. Not to mention that it has the potential to channel in so much bad to our minds and hearts. TV is a great portal the enemy uses to poison our souls. Don’t get me wrong, TV isn’t evil in itself. It can be used for so much good as well – watching Mass, EWTN, Formed and much more. But, TV is part of the noise of the day that takes us from quiet time with God, as well as keeping us from focused vocational life as husbands and fathers (or wives and mothers).

A few months ago, my wife and I did a 2 day/1 night silent retreat at the Ark and the Dove in Pittsburgh. This showed me how important it was to set aside undistracted, quiet time with and for God. So now, I set aside at least one night to spend with nothing but the Bible, Divine Mercy in my Soul or another spiritual reading. In that night, I quietly spend time seeking out God’s heart and mind. As I’m reading, I ask God to speak to me and show me what He wants me to know that I may draw closer to Him. I don’t ask Him to draw closer to me, I actively try to draw myself into HIS heart. I have found in these hours that I fill many pages of my journal with thoughts He put on my heart in the words I’ve read. And to be honest, this promise has become multiple evenings each week.

I’ve found a peace resting in the Bible that I always desired but never truly have had previously. And, from this, I’ve read and learned things that I had never ‘heard’ before even though I may have read the verses many times in the past. The more I read, the more I understand His intense love and desire for my heart to be fully united with His. And, I begin to see His Presence where He wants to dwell – within my heart.

This may look like a very complex thing. Where do I even begin? Do like I did, start with The Acts of the Apostles. Read a little each day, just in your private time set apart for God whether 10 minutes or an hour. When, I completed Acts, I moved into the letters – Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians etc. At that point for me, my heart was on fire for me. I felt so thirsty for God, and I was drinking Him up. I moved into the Gospels at this point. Mark is the shortest and first written. Then, Matthew and Luke. Luke is the ‘prequel’ to Acts so that was neat. Then, lastly an most savored was the Gospel of John. John is by far my favorite Gospel. Each day I read a Psalm as well. And now, I find myself reading 2 Kings and moving into Exodus. The stories of Elisha and Joseph are exciting.

My major finding was that it doesn’t have to be complicated. Another lie the enemy had me convinced of was that I had to spend so much time and know everything by verse and memory. He also caused me confusion on how to start which then kept me from truly beginning at all. I don’t need to be a Bible scholar, I never will be, but, I can always seek to learn something new, see some scripture in a different light or sometimes, see something for the first time.

Seek God in His Holy Word. Seek His guidance. You must seek and open the door. God is a gentleman, He will never forcibly enter.

“‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

Set aside time, just you and God and start reading the Bible with only one goal, to find God in the next phrase or words. Seek God in His Holy Word and you will find!