How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done
for us by our teachers. Everything is made to center upon the initial act of
"accepting" Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and
we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We
have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him,
we need no more seek Him. In the midst of this great chill there are some, I rejoice to
acknowledge, who will not be content with shallow logic. They will admit the force of the
argument, and then turn away with tears to hunt some lonely place and pray. "Oh God,
show me Thy glory." They want to taste, to touch with their hearts, to see with their
inner eyes the wonder that is God.
I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought
us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a
result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.
Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He
waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long in vain.
Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity.
The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs,
methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention
but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience,
the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our
promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the
peace of God scarcely at all.
If we would find God amid all the religious externals, we must first determine to find Him
and then proceed in the way of simplicity. Now, as always, God reveals Himself to
"babes" and hides Himself in thick darkness from the wise and the prudent. We
must simplify our approach to Him. We must strip down to essentials (and they will be
found to be blessedly few). We must put away all effort to impress, and come with the
guileless candor of childhood. If we do this, without doubt, God will quickly respond. We
need not fear that in seeking God only we narrow our lives or restrict the motions of our
expanding hearts. The opposite is true. We can well afford to make God our All, to
concentrate, to sacrifice the many for the One. The man who has God for his treasure has
all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have
them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his
happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of
loss, for having the source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure,
all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in
One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever.
by A. W. Tozer "The Pursuit of God"
From: A Revival Source Center