One of the biggest indicators of what we value and treasure the most is what we invest our time in. After all, we make time for the people and the things that are most important to us. While there are many things that we can spend our time doing, one is the most important: spending time with God on a regular basis. Our commitment to spend time with God consistently will demonstrate our commitment to following and worshiping Him
Jeremiah encouraged a group of Israelites who had been exiled to the land of Babylon to continue to spend time with God during their difficult circumstances in Jeremiah 29. Because the Israelites had turned away from God, God had allowed Babylon to conquer Israel and take a group of Israelites captive to Babylon. Jeremiah 29 records a letter that Jeremiah sent to these exiles. This letter recorded a promise directly from God, “If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me" (verse 13). God's promise in this passage of Scripture to those who were in captivity in Babylon was that when they turned to Him and sought after Him with their whole hearts, then they would find Him. Their seeking after Him would never be in vain. What a promise to claim!
What was true for the Babylonian captives in Jeremiah 29 is true for us today. When we seek after God, we find Him. The question is, are we seeking Him? Make no mistake: seeking after God requires something from us. Seeking God requires our time and our commitment to find Him. It means waking up early in the morning to spend time with Him before the chaos of the day begins. It means consistently talking to Him. It means being a part of a small group, where we are surrounded by other Christ followers who can help us live lives that honor Him.
My friend, when you seek after God and spend time with Him regularly, you will find Him. Will you commit to a lifestyle of seeking after Him? You will never regret a life committed to following and searching after Him with all of your heart.
Take the next few minutes to seek God by spending time with Him in prayer. Ask Him to lead you and guide you throughout your day. Ask Him for wisdom in areas where you need it. Ask Him to help you honor Him through your words and actions today. Don’t forget to offer praise for all He has done in your life.
1Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the elders, priests, prophets, and all the people who had been exiled to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. 2 This was after King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the court officials, the other officials of Judah, and all the craftsmen and artisans had been deported from Jerusalem. 3 He sent the letter with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah when they went to Babylon as King Zedekiah’s ambassadors to Nebuchadnezzar. This is what Jeremiah’s letter said:
4 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: 5 “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”
8 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let your prophets and fortune-tellers who are with you in the land of Babylon trick you. Do not listen to their dreams, 9 because they are telling you lies in my name. I have not sent them,” says the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”
15 You claim that the Lord has raised up prophets for you in Babylon. 16 But this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all those still living here in Jerusalem—your relatives who were not exiled to Babylon. 17 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “I will send war, famine, and disease upon them and make them like bad figs, too rotten to eat. 18 Yes, I will pursue them with war, famine, and disease, and I will scatter them around the world. In every nation where I send them, I will make them an object of damnation, horror, contempt, and mockery. 19 For they refuse to listen to me, though I have spoken to them repeatedly through the prophets I sent. And you who are in exile have not listened either,” says the Lord.
20 Therefore, listen to this message from the Lord, all you captives there in Babylon. 21 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says about your prophets—Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah—who are telling you lies in my name: “I will turn them over to Nebuchadnezzar for execution before your eyes. 22 Their terrible fate will become proverbial, so that the Judean exiles will curse someone by saying, ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned alive!’ 23 For these men have done terrible things among my people. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have lied in my name, saying things I did not command. I am a witness to this. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
