“When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘I shall seek Your face, Lord.’”
—Psalm 27:8 NASB
Creation week must have been an amazing week of miracles. Light scattered the darkness. The air we breathe severed the waters from the sky. Land and plant life surged above the watery depths. Lights in the sky separated day and night. Then birds soared in the sky, and fish swam in the waters. Animals strutted across the earth, and mankind surveyed it all. God stepped back, studied His handiwork, “and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).
Recently, my aging schnauzer Gus and I spent a couple of nights in Bismarck, North Dakota, where we saw sunflowers, lots of them. Sunflowers of all sizes speckle the state. Generally, they are yellow, but some can be orange, red, and even purple. In 2014, the tallest sunflower plant ever recorded was in Germany at thirty feet and one inch in height. Others are significantly smaller and are called “dwarf” sunflowers. They are indigenous to North America, like potatoes, tomatoes, and corn.
Sunflowers are unique in that they follow the sun. In the morning, they face the sunrise. As the sun moves across the heavens during the day, the faces of these flowers are always looking at the sun. In the evening, when the sun dips below the horizon, sunflowers eke one last glimpse of the golden orb in the west.
When Jesus said, “Follow Me,” is this not what He meant, always to be seeking Him? In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). What things? This comment follows the beatitudes in Matthew 5 and the Lord’s Prayer in the early part of chapter 6. From Jesus’ sermon, we can also learn that when we seek Him, we are the salt of the earth and a light by which we can illuminate the world with His love.
Our days begin in the morning, and King David had this to say, “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up” (Psalm 3:5 KJV). When we face Jesus first in everything we do, we will be following the Son, just as the sunflowers follow the sun.
Call to Action
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV). That’s a mighty big word “if,” but “if” we do face the Son continually, He will always be before us, welcoming us into His presence. He will never leave us (see Hebrews 13:5). When we follow the Son we will never have to see Him “set” and wait for the morning. Do you want to turn from your “wicked ways”? Will you follow the Son wherever He goes (see Revelation 14:4)?
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
