This post was written by TeenPact Student Body Representative Caleb Shirk from Connecticut.
At National Convention this year, God showed me countless reasons of why we should be so excited to praise His name. Whether it was through rendezvous, small groups, conversations with friends, or the verses I read throughout the week, God was continually reminding me of the importance of worship. However, similar to many others who are faced with the difficulty of coming home from TeenPact class, I had difficulty maintaining my heart and desire for the Lord once Ieft Natcon. What happened to the passion that was there? How is it that we are worshiping the same God at home as at TeenPact, and yet that desire somehow isn’t the same?
Several weeks ago when reading in Psalms, I came across this verse that says, “Those who seek Him, will praise the LORD.” The Lord has called us to continually offer the sacrifice of praise to our God. (see Heb 13v15) Living a life full of praising the Lord requires that we seek Him in all things. You cannot worship that which you do not know.
Several weeks ago, I was praying about what God wanted me to share in my blog and I came across Psalm 1:2-3;
“But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, who’s leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.”
There were a couple of things that I noticed from these two verses. First, as you look at verse 2, you will see that it is a command that comes with a promise. When we are seeking the Lord through His Word and meditating on it, then we shall be like trees that are strong and produce fruit. Whatever we do shall prosper, but it begins with seeking after the Lord.
Secondly, how did the tree become strong, prosper, and bear fruit? The tree was not trying to bear fruit, and it was not trying to keep its leaf from withering; it was simply drawing from the water and the natural result was fruit. It is the same way spiritually. We cannot bear fruit through ourselves, and we aren’t called to make the fruit. Jesus does that. Our job is to draw from the Water of Life, Jesus Christ. The only way the fruit will come is if we are drawing from the Water of Life and abiding in Him. Many of us desire the fruit but aren’t willing to go after the One who actually produces the fruit in our lives.
In Matthew 6:33 we find this familiar verse, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.” God makes it very clear that our job is to seek Him. Not only that, Christ calls us to seek Him first and pursue him as the King of Glory, our Savior, and friend. He longs for us to desire Him more than anything else this world has to offer.
Paul writes it like this in Philippians 3:8;
“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.“
Paul knew the worth of Christ and was willing to forsake the desires of this world to obtain something far greater.
Jesus Christ is SO much better than anything we could ever desire! However, there will always be distractions in our lives that vy for our attention above Christ. But in the end, these things will pass away and only Christ is eternal and worthy of our trust. As we seek Him, we will begin to see Him for who He really is and praise Him because of it!
Today, I encourage you to passionately seek the Lord with everything that you have. As you do so, you WILL praise the Lord, and whatever you do SHALL prosper, and you WILL bear much fruit. Seek Jesus with all that you are and know that He is constantly seeking you.
The ideas expressed in this article are original to the author and reflect the convictions and opinions of the author. These views are not the stated beliefs held by TeenPact Leadership Schools.
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