To Seek

As I was perusing the Topical Guide, I came to "Seek, Sought" and stopped to look at the scriptures listed. There are quite a few, and many urge us to seek the Lord. Some speak of things to not seek. To me, seek is an active verb, implying effort and persistence rather than a casual looking for something. It is something we conciously decide to do and then work at.

In Deuteronomy 4:29 we read, "But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." Seeking with all our heart and soul would take focus, concentration, and effort. It would also mean not giving up if it takes time. I thought it was interesting that in Ezra 7:10 we are told, "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments." So seeking is something to prepare for, as well as to do.

I think about this and it makes sense that seeking is to search for something important, to deliberately make up our minds to search, and to conduct the search with diligence, continuing until we are successful. What could be more important than to seek the Lord and the things of eternity?

Another notable idea is found in Proverbs 8: 17, where we are told, "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me." Early is a key word here. We are not to delay or procrastinate in searching for something important, in this case wisdom and understanding. In Isaiah 26:9, the prophet speaks of seeking the Lord early when he writes, "With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." I think he is saying that there are consequences to not seeking the Lord early, at the very least that those who delayed will be compelled to learn righteousness in ways that might be more difficult than if they had sought the Lord early, when they had time to do their seeking in the right way.

I mentioned that some scriptures tell us of things that we should not seek after. One such verse is Jacob 4:10 where we read, "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works." Another is Alma 39:14 which says, "Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you." So we do need to give some thought and attention to what we seek after.

In Matthew 7:7, perhaps one of the best known verses using the word seek, it says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:" The Lord is telling us that we will not seek in vain.

There are many other scriptures that speak of seeking, but those I have chosen above seem to cover the main points--that we must decide to seek and then actively pursue what we are searching for. We must be wise in what we seek after and not waste our time on things of this world rather than on things of eternity. It seems to me that we are going to be seeking something and we would do well to make that something important and worthwhile. I know this time spent on these scriptures has given me an incentive to refine my own searches.