You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jer. 29:13
Dear pastor, as March picks up the pace on its way to Easter I want to give you an encouraging reminder that begins with a challenging question.
The question I want you to consider is, “What do you seek?” Not the quick intellectual answer but the true, maybe unseen, answer that springs from our hearts and shapes our approach to life and ministry. What is your heart seeking in all the things you seek to do this season?
Think about last week for a minute… What were you working for? What were you hoping for? What guided your decisions and direction? If you had to boil down all your activities and think about your true desire- what were you seeking?
- To advance
- To survive
- To succeed
- To love
- To improve
- To solve
- To restore
I ask the question because very often what we seek impacts what we see, what we find and what we miss. What we seek colors our approach to life!
I know you are busy so let me get to the point you already know. The pace and pursuit of effective ministry can often distract us from simply seeking Jesus. Like distracted driving, we think we can glance for just a moment, but the moment easily become a season. Our choice instead of relieving pressure deflates the peace & presence of Christ in us.
Of course it is better to avoid letting that happen. But when it does there is a simple way back! Return to Jesus.
Thus declares the Lord of Hosts, “Return to me, says the Lord of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts.” Zechariah 1:3
My main reminder for us all this month is return to the priority of seeking Jesus. Like a good marriage we must continue to pursue our wives with deepening holy love. So with Jesus he made us with a need for continually seeking Him with priority faith and love as well.
In Jesus we have life. In Jesus we have direction. In Jesus we have power. In Jesus we have peace. In Jesus we have fruitfulness. Everything we need for life, godliness, relationship and purpose is in Jesus. We know this theologically, but our hearts can wander even as pastors.
So this month I encourage you to take another step to strengthen your follow through in continually seeking Jesus. Seek to abide in His presence, hear His voice, follow His lead, keep in step with His Spirit and all the other expressions of this you know from His Word. Many things in this world call out for us to seek them. Jesus wants us to seek the Father through Him! As we do, we experience the true joy of His saving presence and His powerful purposeful work in the world He calls us to embrace.
So in your time with Jesus, this month, ask Him to help you discern what you are seeking when you aren’t seeking Him. Ask Him to remove idols and restore your focus back on simply following after Him. Affirm your faith that seeking Him leads to everything else He desires for us and through us.
Col 3:1-2 “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”
The Pastor's Life 