Seek me and live . . .

Now this is what the Lord says . . . Seek me and live. -Amos 5.4

My pastor gave us homework for Bible Study: write out a personal plan of action for spiritual growth. He wants us to consider our spiritual lives and discover the areas that need strengthening. As I contemplated my plan I knew the first place I needed to go was The Scriptures. God has given us a complete instruction manual for our lives in Christ and I would be remiss if I didn't use it.

Now, as we discussed our relationship with God during Bible Study, I recalled the one thing that kept me from growing spiritually: a lack of understanding. Although I was baptized at age 9 and grew up in the Church, just a couple of years ago I was prepared to walk away from God for good. I thought that He was wasting His time with me. Every time I got close to Him, something would change and I wound up back in the world, totally immersed and loving it. I knew verses and passages and church etiquette but I didn't know the only thing that mattered: "No it's not I, but the Christ that lives in me."

The first step to spiritual growth is understanding that a changed heart, a changed mind and changed behavior do NOT come from within yourself. God did not say change the way you act and come to me. All He requires us to do is love Him (Matt 22.37), believe in Him (Acts 16.30-31) and He will do the rest. Gal 2. 19 - 21 explains it perfectly . . .

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily. (The Message Translation)

But how do you let go and let God? Seek Him daily:
Seek the Lord and live . . . Amos 5.6
Seek good and not evil . . . Amos 5.14
Seek first His Kingdom . . .Matt 6.33
Ask . . . Seek . . . Knock . . . Matt 7.7

Seek is defined as strive after, go to, aim at. The Message translation says "Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions . . . Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now. . ." So in order to let God be in control we must immerse ourselves in God: what He's doing, what He's done, what He says and who He is.

When we finally dive into God's presence and let it envelop every aspect of our living, we will then see the Holy Spirit in action, urging us, guiding us, comforting us, calling things to our remembrance, bracing us, calming us and completely leading us down a different path. Our will and desires will begin to align with God's purpose for our lives. Soon we will stop serving God just for the next blessing and start living for God so that we can spend eternity in His presence.

My Spiritual Growth Action Plan
Get in God's presence upon awaking each morning through devotion and prayer
Practice tithing my time in addition to my money
Journal my thoughts, observations and knowledge gained from devotions and study
Pray for others when I feel down or stand in need
Practice being silent before God

(Please feel free to add suggestions or share your plan with me.)