Looking and seeking are two words that are prominent in scripture. There are over 400 mentions in the Bible of the word “look” or some variation of it. The word “seek” or some form of variation of it is mentioned over 350 times.
God told Abraham to look towards the heavens and count the stars, as this would be the number of offspring he would have.
God told Moses to look among the able men who fear God and are trustworthy, and place them over people of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
In Psalms 8:3, David writes of looking into the heavens and seeing the work of God’s fingers, the moon and stars that he put in place.
In another Psalm, the Psalmist pleads for God to turn his eyes away from looking at worthless things, instead requesting life in the ways of the Lord.
The writer of I Chronicles declares, Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually.
Again, in I Chronicles, it says to set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God.
The prophet, Amos, instructs us to seek good, and not evil, that you may live.
In the well-known passage of Matthew 6:33, we are told to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
The apostle Paul urged the Corinthian Christians to not be looking for the things we can see but look for the things we cannot see. The things we can see are only here for a while, but the things we cannot see are eternal.
Then Paul tells the Philippian Christians to look not only at our own interests, but also to the interest of others.
To the Colossian Christians, Paul writes, If then, you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is.
The Hebrew writer encouraged all Christians to look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, the one who is seated at the right hand of God.
What are we looking for and what are we seeking after? We all should examine our hearts to see if we are looking to Jesus or if we are straying from the paths of righteousness. Not only are we to look and seek, but God is also looking and seeking those who would follow Him.