Seek Me!

My friend likes to drink diet Coke. A lot. She is so obsessed with diet Coke that when we travel somewhere, she will literally pack a case of the stuff in her luggage so that when she arrives at her destination, she will have diet Coke instantly in her possession. She drinks it during church; she drinks it during school; and with every meal, another can of diet Coke bites the dust at her taste buds.

Somehow I can’t help but think that it’s dreadfully unhealthy to be that obsessed with diet Coke. When you can barely breathe without inhaling a soft drink, I would personally classify it as an addiction. Combined with the fact that diet Coke shines up metal quite nicely, I predict, however medically errant, that my friend will one day find that diet Coke has eaten a hole through her stomach or some other similar catastrophe.

Diet Coke, in my mind, is not particularly worthy of my affection. I can’t stand the stuff. The only time that I will willingly order Diet Coke is when I am in another country and the alternative is drinking the less-than-sanitary water. Otherwise, my stomach will see no Coke products as long as I am conscious.

To my friend, though, it’s a totally different story. Rather than spurning the ulcer-in-a-can, she drinks the stuff with religious passion, fervently devoted to her addiction. She can probably control her cravings for it, but I highly doubt she wants to. She has become thoroughly enamored with her beloved beverage, and there’s not much that anyone can say to dissuade her.

Somehow, I admire her for her devotion. When others are switching to coffee, Pepsi, juices, and other Diet Coke alternatives, my friend remains faithful to her passion, always pursuing that thing that makes her happy. However misguided it may be, I desire that same devotion in myself, only I would like it to be directed in an entirely different direction.

The book of Isaiah leaves me a challenge to desire and seek after God with every ounce of my being. When I read the book, it seems like the entire thing, all sixty six chapters, are there to scream at me that I don’t desire God as much as I should. The book is obviously intended more to chastise Israel and predict future events, but my feeble little God-seeking mind finds it telling me that God is worthy of my affection but I put it somewhere else instead.

The book starts right off telling how God wants Israel to bring Him real devotion, not just lip service and religiosity. It continues with a challenge from God to find an offer better than His:

Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." –Isaiah 1:18-20

Then, God spends the rest of his book hammering home the idea that mankind, all of us, have moseyed away from His fold in search of some fulfillment, only to find life empty and meaningless.

He shows us what we miss out on when we wander by taking calling Isaiah to his ministry in chapter 6. Isaiah is taken into the lair of the Lord and given special direction from God Himself. I can’t even begin to comprehend what this scene looked like when Isaiah stood before a holy God and worshipped in His temple. All I know is that it was absolutely amazing.

The God that Isaiah describes is so powerful, so great, that the very train of His robe fills the entire temple. Regardless of what temple is being referred to in this passage, I think it’s safe to say that you are powerful if you merit a robe with a train so big that it would not just cover but fill a building rivaling the size of a modern football stadium. And with all this size, it doesn’t even begin to capture the idea of how big this God really is.

He commands a legion of seraphim who ceaselessly fly around His throne, worshipping Him and singing His praises. It has always been interesting to me how often creatures around the throne of God sing “Holy!” I’m a lover of words, and it seems to me that in heaven, we would find many, many words to describe attributes of an infinite God, and so it never made sense to me that angelic being fly before God and only cry, “Holy!”

Perhaps there are more verses to the angels’ song. They are there to praise God each day, but like us, they are finite beings, trapped by some sort of limits. Thus, in the presence of a holy and infinite Creator, they worship not out of duty or purpose, but out of awe. And, though there are more verses to their song, as they sing the first verse, they become so overwhelmed with the glory of this God that they forget all the words they are bringing to this King, and they start their song anew.

I don’t know where I heard that explanation of the angels’ worship, but it’s not mine. I like it though; it seems to explain to me just how incomprehensible the God that Isaiah saw truly is. There’s more to Isaiah’s book than just a big, indifferent God, too. Isaiah contains rich prophecy about the coming Messiah who would take away all the sins of the world.

Thus, when reading Isaiah’s book, you can’t help but be besieged by the thought that such a holy God would sacrifice for such a worthless creature.
And yet, as humans, we wander away. We spend our time squabbling about things that will never amount to anything when compared to the surpassing greatness of God. Instead, we should be passionately pursuing His glory, relentlessly sold out to honoring the One who paid it all.

I want to want Jesus. I want to have a passion for Him that is far greater than my friend’s passion for Diet Coke. Some days, my passion for Christ is as big as I dream. But I am a human being, and I think human beings are naturally inclined to forget the eternal to focus on the temporal. Maybe you’re there too, and you’re struggling with how to find God in every moment, how to experience Him in every facet of your life.

If so, I hope you spend time with your Lord every day. I hope you start trying to find Him in every person you meet, every book you read, and every word you utter. God invented communication, and there’s no one better at communicating. We have to stop and listen, though.

We’re called to seek God first and desire Him with all our hearts, but, as the great hymn says, we’re prone to wander. Don’t follow Israel’s path. Don’t trade in eternity for the moment, but savor every moment as a gift of communication from God.