What Seek Ye?

"Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, 'What seek ye?'" -John 1:38 (kjv)

I find this saying by Jesus very fascinating and comforting at the same time. Why for?

The Gospel of John starts this way:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." -John 1:1-4

So we see that Jesus was with God and is God, He was in the beginning, and everything was made through Him. He is God. He is Almighty God (Gen. 17:1), the Everlasting God (21:33), the King (Psalm 98:6), Creator of heaven and earth (Col. 1:16), the great I Am (John 8:58).

With all that in mind, we come to the verse at hand, in which Jesus says, "What seek ye?"

Andrew and another disciple were the ones which followed Jesus in this passage (v. 40), right after hearing John the Baptist declare, "Behold the Lamb of God!" (v. 36), and earlier "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (v. 29). And immediately these two began to follow Jesus. The Jesus turns and says to them, "What seek ye?"

And that's where I, for the first time, saw something I hadn't seen. I could make an extensive list like the one above, with scripture, proving how high and holy and pure and lovely Jesus is. How much honor, glory and praise He had left in the Celestial City, with the company of angels and moreover the Father and Spirit, and yet here he was asking these two and us, "What seek ye?"

Not in a way, as though they were bothersome to Him, and He said in such a way to get them to leave Him alone. But as a loving friend asks what their desire was, "What seek ye?" I think this passage I found in Matthew Henry's commentary, say well what I cannot obviously express very well...

"The question Christ put to them is what we should all put to ourselves when we begin to follow Christ, and take upon us the profession of his holy religion: "What seek ye? What do we design and desire?" Those that follow Christ, and yet seek the world, or themselves, or the praise of men, deceive themselves. "What seek we in seeking Christ? Do we seek a teacher, ruler, and reconciler? In following Christ, do we seek the favor of God and eternal life?" If our eye be single in this, we are full of light" (Henry Commentary).

What do we seek in Christ? And in Him alone. I think most would agree with forgiveness of our transgression against a thrice holy God, and the joy, peace and love all found in Him.

(This speaking to my own soul firstly) Think for a minute what is being said, we the creatures, an utterly depraved creature at that, are being invited by Jesus Christ Himself, God of very God, to seek forgiveness, holiness, love, reconciliation, and fellowship with and in Him alone. So then, "What see ye?" The world, its lies, its vanity, its corruption and death? Or Jesus Christ, His truth, His love, His forgiveness, His fellowship, and the everlasting life which comes through Him?

"What do you seek? This kind and gracious invitation, which was once made to two persons, now belongs to all. We ought not therefore to fear that Christ will withdraw from us or refuse to us easy access, provided that he sees us desirous to come to him; but, on the contrary, he will stretch out his hand to assist our endeavors. And how will not he meet those who come to him, who seeks at a distance those who are wandering and astray, that he may bring them back to the right road?" (John Calvin, Commentaries on John)

Selah.

A Passage On My Mind

A passage I came upon, and wished to share some thoughts...for anyone who might care (I couldn't imagine why).

Proverbs 24:30-34 (nasb):

"I passed by the field of the sluggard
And by the vineyard of the man lacking sense,
And behold, it was completely overgrown
with thistles;
Its surface was covered in nettles,
And its stone wall was broken down.
When I saw, I reflected upon it;
I looked, and received instruction.
'A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest,'
Then your poverty will come as a robber
And your want like an armed man."

I pictured a house. With a vineyard. And a stone wall. With a man inside the house.
Yet, I pictured the house as worn down, the vineyard dead, the stone wall broken down, and the man inside, sitting in his chair, doing nothing about it.

So there is two ways I think I could go about taking application from this.

Application 1

Make constant use of roundup (I kid).
But more seriously, to be diligent in all your work, as though doing it for the Lord (cf. Colossians 3:22). I am more than guilty of this sin, of negligence, of not only not praying, reading scripture, and meditating as I should, but also, in worldly matters, such as work, school, chores around the house, etc. Our purpose (chief end) in this life, as the Westminster Confession so eloquently puts it, is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. One of the ways in which we do this is by glorifying Him in all aspects of life. Not just church. Not just bible reading. But in all things from recreation to vocation to duty.
When we neglect our duty and our diligence in all matters, we end up like this man, then when our poverty and want comes we wonder why, often people are quick to blame God instead of looking to themselves. God forbid that we ever should.

Application 2

Spiritual application is how I see it.
The house = Our heart/ soul/ mind (compare Matt 7:24,26, 1 Cor 6:19, Matt 22:37).
The vineyard = Fruit of the Spirit/ the Word of God (compare Gal 5:22, Luke 8:11).
The thistles and nettles = Bad fruit/ cares of this world/ evil (compare Matt 7:16, Luke 8:7,14)
The stone wall = Faith (Psalm 18:2, Eph 6:16).

First, I pictured as this house should be. Or rather, as the heart and soul should be, but I'll explain it with the house, so just bear with me on the symbolism.
The house and the vineyard should be kept safe, because of the stone wall that is set up surrounding it all. The vineyard should be well kept, by the diligent man who tends to it and prunes away the thorns and thistles, and makes sure that the wall stays strong and is not eaten away by the weeds.

But in this case, as Solomon does, so we must: "When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction." We see the sluggard, the man lacking sense, understanding and wisdom, who is inattentive, lacking diligence and care, and is completely allowing the weeds to destroy everything.

So then, we must take this man as an example, of what we must not do. We cannot sit back, we must daily be in our Bibles, daily in prayer, daily making supplication to the Lord for diligence, strength and the faith to continue on. Remembering that we do our work for the Lord, not for men. God has given us a new and beating heart, let us hedge away the temptations and the sins that so easily entangle us (Hebrews 12:1), and press on to holiness, in all diligence. Truly.