Seeking is DOING

"Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God." 

1 Chronicles 22:19

Silly and entirely unrelated photo of Joshua...

So frequently is the command given to Christians to "seek God" or "seek the Lord" or "seek the kingdom of God" that it would not be far off to say that seeking the Lord is essentially an expression for what it means to live the Christian life.   

But what struck me today, as I read this passage from Chronicles, was the words that follow immediately after David's counsel to his son.  In verse 19 David tells Solomon to seek the Lord.  Then, without so much as taking a breath it seems, David goes on in the second half of the verse to say "Therefore arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord your God..."

"Seek" he told him.

Then, as if to explain it,  "arise and build."

There it is.  Seeking is DOING.  It is not naval gazing about spiritual things.  It is not silent tingles about heaven and angels or deep doctrines.  Seeking is not a feeling.  Seeking is not even, primarily, thinking.  Seeking is DOING.  Arise and build. 

So...my soul...are you seeking the Lord?  If so...what are you doing? 

Praying is doing.  So am I actively seeking the Lord in prayer, calling upon Him, asking Him for His blessing and grace upon all that I do today?  Am I praying for others concerning their trials and troubles?  In the midst of an almost infinite number of distractions, praying can be hard work.  Praying is doing.  We seek the Lord when we pray.

Obeying is doing.  Am I reading the Word of God so as to focus my thoughts on areas that NEED TO CHANGE in my life to make me more obedient to the Lord.  Obedience means doing what I'm told to do by the Lord, not what I want to do, or what feels right.  What area of my life right now is not pleasing to God?  Change it.  That is obedience.  Obedience is doing.  We seek the Lord when we obey.

Serving is doing.  Whom can I serve today?  What good can I do for someone else?  Can I help a friend, a neighbor a stranger?  Serving others means not doing what I would most like to do with my free time, but rather finding ways to use my time and talents for the good of someone else.  Serving is doing.  We seek the Lord when we serve.

I want to be a God-seeker.  But not all of me.  If I am honest, there is that part of me that always wants to seek other things.  That is the daily battle.  Oh my soul...Arise and Build!