Mar 18, 2018
Embedded deep within the pages of the Old Testament we find one of God’s most precious promises.
As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, this bright ray of hope-filled sunshine was written to Jewish exiles in Babylon who were at the time experiencing their darkest hour.
It was written by the weeping prophet Jeremiah, who himself desperately needed a stabilizing reassurance from God that He had not, did not, and would not ever, no matter what, abandon His people.
Even though they had dramatically abandoned Him.
This unbreakable promise is found in Jeremiah 29:13, and is as true today as it was then, as true for us as it was them.
Hear it in the NIV, words worthy of memorization: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
What’s the key word? Seek. בָּקַשׁ ḇâqaš. A rather intensive word that means “to seek or pursue earnestly.”
This word goes way beyond idle curiosity or a casual pursuit. Bâqaš speaks of a wholehearted desire.
Bâqaš The exact same word David used in Psalm 40:16, “But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who—Listen!!!—long, long for your saving help always say, ‘The Lord is great!’”
This is the very same image that Jesus invoked in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
This is Hebrews 11:6, that reads, “He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently (earnestly, sincerely) seek Him.”
I can assure you—and as you are about to see—one Cornelius, a centurion from Caesarea, was in every sense of the word a diligent, earnest, sincere seeker.
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God bless you richly as you listen.