Earnestly Seek and Find

“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart”.   Jeremiah 29:13

The words of today’s Old Testament verse were given by God to Jeremiah to be passed on to His people. At this time in history God’s people were captives of the Babylonians. They’ve been taken from their homes and forced to live in a foreign land for 70 years. They are wondering if they’ll ever see Jerusalem again. God tells them, through Jeremiah, not to lose hope, but to remain faithful and diligently seek Him. Then their faith will be restored and God will lead them out of captivity.

In the New Testament we are told that at the time of Jesus’ birth Wise Men (Magi) followed a star to find the new king of the Jews. They traveled for two years guided by that star. They had no idea where they’d find Him. They just knew they had to keep going, against all odds, until they reached the destination. These men were Gentiles, yet they went on this lengthy quest to find this child and worship Him. They would not stop until this was accomplished.

Both accounts show us that we, too, are to search for our Savior, Jesus Christ until we find Him.

During this Christmas season how much time are we spending on finding the “perfect” gifts for the people on our list vs how much time is being spent seeking Jesus?

Christmas should be a time of tracking down the Christ child first, worshiping and spending time in devotion to Him. We still can put up the decorations and exchange gifts, but we must look at our priorities. Has Christmas become a big commercial spending spree full of anxiety or it is the time to focus on why we began celebrating Christmas in the first place – the birth of our Lord and Savior?

The story of the Wise Men is not about giving gifts to each other. It’s about giving gifts to Jesus. Here is a guide to follow:

1.  Seek and find Jesus.

2.  Present your treasures to Him.

3. Leave a changed person.

Enjoy the time with family and friends, celebrate together, have fun, but don’t forget to pursue Jesus. It will not be easy to do because we are bombarded by the worldly idea of Christmas. However, it will be a quest well worth your time and energy. Seeking and finding Jesus first will give you inner peace, allowing you to joyfully experience this time of year without all the advertising hype and chaos.

Earnestly seek and find the true reason for the season.