In the English language, we often consider the verbs “to seek” and “to look for” to be synonyms. That is to say that we consider them to be interchangeable, and we generally use them in that way. But they are not technically interchangeable. In the strict sense, to look for something is to search for something using only our visual senses. On the other hand, to seek out something means to search for something with every sense we have. While not entirely passive, “to look for something” is not near as active as “to seek out something.” To seek means an energetic, full-on, focused effort to search a thing out. Consider how we seek treasure, while we just look for the remote control in the couch cushions where we think it might be.
But ask treasure hunters about their quest to find a lost treasure they believe exists. They will tell you that they use their minds, their ears, history, maps, computers, and just about any resource they can employ to locate that treasure. They leave no stone unturned. In fact, their lives will go on hold to seek out that treasure. Seeking the treasure becomes their greatest pleasure and their greatest toil. Some have been known to drain their life’s savings in order to seek it out. Those that are most diligent, are most often those that find it. And even when they don’t, the skills, knowledge, and experience they earn in the search is incalculable.
God wants us to seek him, not just look for him. Hebrews 11:6 tells us he rewards those who seek him. In Deuteronomy 4:29 he instructs the Hebrews that if they stray from him and suffer the consequences of trying to live a life without him, that they can find him again if they seek him with all their heart. In Proverbs 8:17 we are told that those who diligently seek him will find him. Notice that Proverbs 8:17 is a promise. We are promised that if we diligently seek him, we will find him. If someone of credible authority came to you and told you that they knew a treasure was out in the desert and that if you diligently sought it, you would find it, you probably would waste no time mobilizing a search party. You would find a posse that will listen to you, and you’d be on your way.
The difference between an earthly search for treasure, and the spiritual search for God, is that God has promised you that if you seek, you will find (Matthew 7:7-8). And there can be no greater treasure than the one God has guaranteed that you will find. Its value is incalculable, because he is the treasure. He has commanded you to search for that treasure and to not be anxiously preoccupied with the necessities of the world (Matthew 6:31-33). But are you searching for it? How much time do you invest toward searching for the treasure that God has for you? How much time do you devote on a daily basis toward the hunt? How much time is devoted toward worldly desires at the expense of time with God? How many pleasures do you enjoy without his presence? Are you being outdone by worldly treasure hunters who spend all they have to discover something that ultimately rots away?
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