Moses grew up in Egypt as the adopted son of the daughter of Pharaoh himself. He was royal by adoption, privileged in his childhood, educated, cultured, and trained for political leadership in the home of the most powerful man in the world at the time. But he was raised by his birth mother by a divine act of grace, so he knew all along he was really a Jew.
When Moses hit age 40, he made a defining decision to repudiate his Egyptian privileges to “suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” (Heb. 11) He decided to respond to the inner burden of his heart for his own nation of oppressed people. Good decision. Bad timing and miscalculations followed.
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“(John the Baptist) preached, saying, ‘There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.’” -Mark 1:7 (NKJV)
There exists in America today, a self-esteem gospel. It’s a theological movement that says God’s primary purpose is to make us feel better about ourselves. The assumption is that God is very man-centered in His existence. The key to live is seen as “believing in yourself.” Obviously every human being needs a proper perspective on self but often our source of self-worth is wrong.
The world says that we must improve our self-esteem by seeing the good in ourselves. Many Christian leaders echo this sentiment with an honorary mention given to God’s supremacy. But self-worth should not be based on the good in us, for the Bible is clear that “there is none good, no not one” and that “no one does good except God.” For me to be saved, by approach to God must be like that of John the Baptist – a poor wretched sinner, unworthy to even stoop in the presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords.
What we must remember, however, is that this awesome, almighty, sovereign God allowed His Son to be beaten, mocked, and crucified just so that we could become the children of God. When it comes to goodness we’re really worthless. When it comes to God’s value of us though, we’re priceless! We were so valuable to Him that He gave His Son for us. You see, this is the only way that God gets all the glory He deserves, for us to be helplessly, hopelessly lost in our own sin, and for God to initiate a plan to rescue us, regenerate us, and adopt us into His family.
My self-worth is extremely strong, not because there is anything good in me, but rather because before I was born, the God of the universe saw through the portals of time into my life and set His affection on me in such a way that if no one else would ever be saved, Jesus still would have died just for me.
Alas and did my Savior bleed, and did my sovereign die,
Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?
At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light
and the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
and now I am happy all the day.
“And the Lord shall scatter you… And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands… But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if you seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” -Deut. 4:27-29
Imagine saying on your wedding day, “Honey, I know in advance you’re going to cheat on me, but if you come home and love me again with all your heart, I’ll take you back.” Or imagine saying on the day of your child’s birth, “Little darling, I know in advance that you’re going to rebel against all of my values, reject me and run away. You’ll dissapoint me and embarass me, but if you come home again and love me with all your heart, I’ll take you back in.”
Obviously, none of us have the knowledge of the future that God has. We can know that things won’t always be perfect. We can guess that people will let us down. But imagine knowing every single dissapointment everyone in your life would ever bring you. Would you go ahead and befriend them, marry them, or bring them into the world? God’s knowledge includes our every act of idolatry, our every thought of impurity, and our every wrong motive. Yet just as He promised to the nation of Israel, He promises to us, “If you’ll seek me with all of your heart, you’ll find me.”
The term “seekers” has been abused by the modern church. We’ve gotten the impression that a “seeker” is simply one who has lost his way a little or one who is struggling to understand God. For many, a “seeker” is simply one who’s self-esteem is impaired and needs to have it restored in order to find God. But a “seeker” according to Deuteronomy is one who has walked in spiritual adultery. A seeker is one who has fled the presence of the all-consuming God in rebellion and reprobation. A seeker is one who has committed acts which insult the holiness and character of God. Yet God says, “Seek me!”
God is ultimately seeker-sensitive, but He doesn’t lessen His holiness to become more like sinners. He doesn’t market His truth like the latest fiction novel. He pleads instead for poor, lost, hell-bound sinners to “turn ye,” to “look ye,” to “seek ye the Lord…” His invitation is open. Anybody that seeks Him finds Him. Think of Cornelius, think of Apollos, think of the Ethiopian eunuch. Each was an example of one who sought God and found Him.
But then, consider the other half of Scripture. Hosea lost his wife to unfaithfulness and sought her out. When he found her, he purchased her off the prostitution auction block, took her home, and committed to forgive and love her again. Consider Zacchaues who was found up in the tree, the woman at the well, and the earliest apostles on the banks of the Jordan. God Himself is the greater Seeker!
He’s been in hot pursuit of you from the time you were conceived, not in your mother’s womb, but in His imagination from eternity past! He’s chased you through your sin, through your wandering, as you’ve sought Him and as you’ve sought to lose Him. The Bible begins with one sinner named Adam, hiding from God. From that moment flows a history of God’s seeking for the redemption of all of humankind back to Himself. And the story of redemption continues with you today. He’s purchased you with the blood of His very own Son, that you could turn to Him, seek forgiveness, and come into His family.
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