THE SIMPLE LIFE

"What drove you to seek God in the first place?"


Who is Jesus? Who is this guy that everyone claims to know and love? Do you ever wonder about that?

It’s funny that you should ask me this question Gary. If you asked me now, I can look back and say that God was drawing me close to him. But at the time, I wouldn’t say that. At the time, it just felt like something wasn’t right.

I don’t even know when I first wanted to seek God. I remember going with Simon to his church fellowship in the summer going into 3rd year of Waterloo. But apparently I had a conversation with Louis during 2nd year where I said I wanted to know more about God. So who knows. I don’t think there was ever an exact moment – at least not for me there wasn’t.

Instead, I believe we get these inklings which I’ll call ‘God nudges’. They’re just split second moments where you wonder. I’ve been getting them all my life but ignoring them most of the time. I distinctly recall a vivid nudge in elementary school when I asked Simon why he didn’t go for confession and communion like everyone else in our class. He gave his answer and I had a ‘God nudge’ to dig deeper, to try to understand what he believed. But I chose to ignore it. This deliberate ignoring continued most of the time until 2nd year of university. I can see now that God surrounded me with many different people – family, friends, random acquaintances – and used them to give me a little nudges.

-Sometimes it was because they did something differently from me.
Why did they think going to church was such a big deal? And it wasn’t even that they physically just needed to be in the building – they actually wanted to go! I found that a little weird, don’t you?

-Sometimes it was the way they saw things.
What is this Bible, this book, that you hold to be Truth? And what do you mean guys and girls are meant to be different because that’s the way God made us?

-But most of the time, the nudges came because of the way they acted.
I witnessed and experienced things that man cannot do by their own power alone. I watched my parents’ marriage blossom into this amazingly loving and open relationship when they invited God into their lives and the marriage was no longer about themselves. I’ve experienced selfless giving time and time again from people who didn’t have any other agenda (they weren’t trying to ‘convert’ me), they had nothing to prove to anyone (especially me) and acted only because the Spirit was moving in them.

And I wish you could see and experience all these things for yourself. Because there’s no words to describe it. When you really encounter God, it’s life-changing. There’s no way around it. He convicts you. He moves you. And things are never quite the same again. Life isn’t picture-perfect. And you don’t become perfect when you accept Jesus. Y’all know me and you can definitely attest to the fact that I’m far from perfect! If anything, you just become increasingly aware of how much more you need HIM in your life.

I don’t know everyone who reads this blog, nor do I know your background. But here’s a challenge for you:
Ever actually opened up the Bible and read from it? (And it doesn’t count when it’s read to you from the pulpit!)

If not, I recommend you try it. You’d be amazed at what God’s Word can do to convict you. At least, that’s what happened to me. Of course, I had to borrow someone else’s cuz it’s not like I had one lying around back then. But I’m sure we all know at least one person who owns a Bible.

Secondly:
Do you know Jesus – who He is and what He stood for?

Sad to say that even though I was brought up in the Catholic school system, I couldn’t ever answer this question. And only when I honestly prayed to know more about Jesus, did I realize that He was already answering my prayers. If you even have the slightest curiosity to know, then pray to God and tell Him!

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” ~ Jeremiah 29:13
That’s God’s promise to us.

I don’t know what you were expecting when you asked that question, but I hope this response answered it. If not, feel free to shot off more specific questions or just give me a call. That goes for all of you too. =)