Monday, May 2, 2016

Seeking First to Last

UV 1473/10000 Seeking First to Last
And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper
2 Chronicles 26 v 5

This uni-verse was spoken of Uzziah the king who did right like his father Amaziah before him. Uzziah prayed to the Lord at the young age of sixteen and the Lord prospered him in every way. He was given many spiritual gifts. He could understand visions. He implemented many plans and built many institutions and structures in Israel. Zechariah and Isaiah were two great prophets who lived during his reign. He was given many military victories. His enemies were defeated. He had a long reign of more than five decades. All these blessings he was given as he had sought the Lord as a teenager.

Uzziah in later years became proud and tried to take the place of the priests in making an offering in the temple. He was resisted by the priests and he was afflicted with leprosy that never left him till the end. This is a warning to us who are faithful. The Lord will raise us up and cause us to flourish. At the time we should not begin to think that it is our own doing. Pride will creep in subtly like a serpent and take control of our actions and reactions. We should continue to humbly seek the Lord and His will every day of our lives. He will never resist the humble but will give grace. We should remember that the same Lord who lifted us up can cast us down.

We need to seek the Lord diligently. It implies that we should study our own heart’s motives for many actions and reactions. We need to cleanse ourselves of anything that might offend Him. Studying the Word diligently and applying it to our lives, learning to avoid the mistakes of the negative models and imitating the positive ones will help us be focussed and consistent in our walk with the Lord. Seeking the Lord as a teenager is the secret of my success, too. From the very first day I humbled myself and sought the Lord, He has blessed me and raised me up. The biggest challenge to faith comes when the Lord lifts us up. It is the equivalent of the temptation of power when Jesus was taken to a high point and shown the whole of Jerusalem. Satan told Him that all this would be His if He only fell down and worshipped him. David fell to the sin of adultery with Bathsheba at the pinnacle of his success. We need to take the counsel of the Holy Spirit at every moment and be sensitive as well as responsive to His promptings. The Lord tests our hearts as to how we behave both in the high points and in the valleys of our lives. He is pleased to find that we are equally penitent, humble and faithful when the going is good and the going is bad. He wants to know where our heart’s priorities lie, whether we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, whether we continue to seek His righteousness when He has granted us our desires and fulfilled our needs. He wants all weather friends, not opportunists and self -seeking time servers. This is the reason many leaders who begin well finish badly. It is said that only one out of ten leaders finish well. He will help us finish well as we have begun well with His help provided we continue to acknowledge, humble ourselves and depend on His grace, help and leading till the very end.

Prateep V Philip

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