Seek the Promiser, not the promises

By Eric Matthew

After reading Timo's posting, I felt strongly convicted. In fact, this is how I have been feeling for the entire of last week and I was planning to share about this when it's my turn to blog. Just where is God in my life? I sing 'I want to know You' and say 'Amen' to every prayer that reads 'I desire you to be the sole focus in my life', but am I doing that? After what happened last week, I have no doubt (though regrettably) Jesus has never been the center of my life. Yes, this is even after God has shown me many wonderful things that he can for to me.

As I reflected upon how I ill-treated my relationship with God last week, I wonder what kind of a fool I really am. I've seen, I've felt and even tasted how good our God is, yet time and again I turn away from Him to feed on, rely on and dwell in things that can never ever fulfill the void that is in me. Indeed, I felt extremely empty the whole of last week because I haven't been praying to Him faithfully from Mon to Wed. The more work I did, the further away I slipped, the lesser I prayed, the poorer I became spiritually. My grades may shine and praises from men will flood in, but how true are their praises? How long does their flattery last? Do I desire the regard of men so much? What worth are my grades if I need to sacrifice my time with God to achieve them. Just where is God in the midst of all this studying and working?

Finally, it dawned upon me just this morning. God has been blessing me, too much in fact. I asked for a focused mind whenever I study and He gave that to me. I asked for understanding whenever I ran into tough topics and He gave that to me. I even asked for extended datelines, the functioning of my computer (it's frequently down) and good tutors and He gave them all to me. But I've rarely thanked Him for what He has done for me. Worse still, I've occupied myself entirely with what He has blessed me with and conveniently chucked Him aside after He's given me all that I've asked for in prayer.

Do I believe in God only because He answers prayers? Do I construct my faith upon the concrete things I received from Him? Do I desire Him more or do I prefer to seek the promises He holds.

Yes, even as we live on this earth, we'll continue to ask our loving Father who will grant us with many things that will make our lives easier. And we know by faith, if what we ask for is right and is according to His will, surely, He will bless us with it. But perhaps it's more important to seek the Promiser before the promises. Our relationship with Him is the one thing that He desires the most. Let us not forget that we were created in the likeness of His image to have fellowship with Him. For the earthly things that we receive from Him will still pass away eventually, but He, our Lord Almighty God, will remain from everlasting to everlasting. Even as our loving Father continues to provide us with things that we need for survival and functioning on this mortal world, let us not be indulgent in these things. After all, without Him, we'll never receive of these things. Hence, isn't it more important to truly seek Him first without the regard of any promises that might be prepared for us?

I thank God for showing me where I've gone horribly wrong in my walk with Him. And I hope I won't be a fool again to revert back to my old ways by fixing my eyes on the promises. For now I know, the Promiser is greater than anything that He has provided me with on this earth.