Proverbs 8:17 (MSG) I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. [18Wealth and Glory accompany me--also substantial Honor and a Good Name. 19My benefits are worth more than a big salary, even a very big salary; the returns on me exceed any imaginable bonus.]
- (NIV) 17 I love everyone who loves me, and I will be found by all who honestly search
- Psalm 40:4 (NIV) Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
- Psalm 40:16 (NIV) But may all who seek you [God] rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The LORD be exalted!"
- Psalm 37:30-31 (NLV) The mouth of the man who is right with God speaks wisdom. And his tongue speaks what is fair and right. The Law of his God is in his heart. His steps do not leave it.
Although Wisdom is speaking, our eternal destiny begins in the heart, not the head. Driven from the beginning, not by us, but by God's love for us.
And we, we are to love, to seek. The consequence will be that we will find in God Himself true love. Verses 18 and 19 are consequences of this verse - and not a goal.
Love is used twice in this verse and what I found interesting is that in the Latin and Greek translations of this passage, the first love is rendered as "agapao" love and the second as "phileo" love. The word "love" in Hebrew is the same word but in different voices. The first love is in the voice that drives the future - that love is on-going - in the hear-and-now and forever. The second "love," written as a participle, might be translated "lovely" and describes how we might look at God - thus the rendering of the Latin and Greek translations. God's love for us is without height, depth, or width - it is all encompassing.
All he wants from us is a love that drives action - not an observational love (I love sunsets when I happen to see them); it is a love that includes the willingness to always look for sunsets, putting myself in a position to see them and to manage my time to be available for them. It includes sacrifice of inconvenience (its foggy where I am so I'll drive to where it is just to see the sunset! - as an exaggerated metaphor). Psalm 40 cements this idea of obedience and trust. We who love the Lord do not look to the world (false gods) for our guidance.
This meaning of love is reinforced with the word "seek" -- a constant process of learning, study and prayer. It's not a casual glance at Scripture nor is it a quick prayer. It not the "seek" of hide-and-go-seek, where a well-hidden child could cause the other players to give up and play another game. This is the "seek" of an adventurer, a pioneer, an archeologist. It is seeking that results not in the seeker being praised but by the LORD being exalted. The more I learn and pray the greater the Wisdom - for it is found only in God.
When God is really found, everybody around you will know exactly what it is you have found - see Psalm 37. God will be exalted in our lives and our businesses. What we say (speaking Wisdom) and how we do what we do (law of God in heart) will reflect God in us - and not us.
Who do I (you) love? What am I (are you) seeking?
Copyright (c) 2005 by P. Griffith Lindell
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