Face or fruit…

Life sometimes requires us to ask hard questions…questions that require us to step outside of ourselves and just be real for a moment – real honest. I heard a sermon once that challenged congregants to seek God’s face, and not His fruits. To seek Him for who He is, and not merely for what He can do for us.
1 Chronicles 16:11 reads,

Look to the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always.

At first blush, I balked at this teaching. Of course I seek His face…I mean, I am not superficial…so I thought…

We all have things that strike us as profound, those things that leave a lasting impression. Mulling this face or fruit question over for a while, A thought popped into my head, how painful if my child were only to want to be with me, or want to know me only due to the things I could do for them. Then I allowed myself to go down that path further- and on came the conviction. Maybe I really had treated my Heavenly Father that way. Intentionally? No, but I did in those times when life was good, and I didn’t speak to Him, read my Bible or go to church. Then, life would get a little rocky, then without thinking I would cry out to Him and ask for His help to pull me through.

In those instances. I painfully realized …I sought His fruit. I was only seeking Him for the pain I knew He could take away.

Processing all of this led to a deep conviction, one that drew me to repentence asking for God’s forgiveness. Praying for God to help my motives to be pure, and to teach me to love Him for Him. This prayer has been monumental for me, through it, He has transformed my thinking, and in that process I have fallen in love with Him. With a desire for Him. I want to know Him for who He is. I want to know everything I can possibly know about Him. I encourage you to do the same. Try it out, and when it comes down to it and the choices are presented…Choose him…

photo credit: You know when you’ve been Tangoed via photopin (license)