Chapter 4
Being Prepared to Know God
You will recall that
the criteria for finding God, in order that we might know Him, is that we seek
Him with all our heart and with all our soul. However, before a person attains
that level of commitment, they go through a process which prepares them to know
Him.
The first phase of
this preparation is that of acquiring the desire to know Him. The following are
illustrations which show some of the ways this transpires:
1. The problems of
life become unbearable to many who therefore, search earnestly for answers.
God's Spirit aligns them with someone who tells them that Jesus can solve
their problems. Because of this good news, they begin to seek Him.
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2. There are those
who by nature have philosophical minds; they are deep thinkers. As a result,
they lean toward an interest in the sciences. Through their studies they are
faced with the vastness and harmony of the universe and become impressed with
the fact that there has to be a God. This conviction motivates them to seek
Him.
3. Others learn
that the judgment of God will come upon them if they do not repent of their
sin and accept His mercy and pardon. So, fear is what prompts them to approach
Him.
4. Still others are
drawn to God because of His great love.
The second phase of
our preparation is that we commit our lives to God. We come to believe that
Jesus was conceived in the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, that He lived a brief
but sinless life performing many miracles, that He was crucified, thereby paying
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the death penalty for
the sins of all mankind, that He rose up alive from the grave after being dead
for three days, and that He lives today proving that He is truly God's son in
human flesh. This determination is what the Bible terms being spiritually
reborn, or, born again.
We then enter the
third phase of preparation. As spiritual babies, we begin to grow. We read the
scriptures which tell us what god is like and how He expects us to live. We talk
to Him in prayer and experience His reality as He responds to us. We fellowship
with others who believe in Him and observe how He impacts their lives. All of
these factors increase our faith in Him, and we mature as Christians. If this
growth continues, and it should, ultimately, our consuming passion is to seek
God with all our heart and with all our soul.
It has appeared to me
that the majority of that which draws us to God is brought about by the wooing
activities of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, the Bible plainly states that
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God will never force
us to respond to Him. Burton Olson, a pastor friend of mine, says it this way,
"God is a
perfect gentleman. He never comes where He is not wanted."
Being prepared to
know God is somewhat like falling in love. First you learn about Him and are
attracted to Him. The more you discover about Him, the more you desire to know
Him. And so it goes until you long for Him with your entire inner being.
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