Seek with your whole heart

 My husband and I love being out in nature, and an ideal day for us involves a walk in the countryside where we don’t see another soul! When we are out walking, we like to identify plants and trees that might have edible fruits and are always on the look out for wild herbs that may have some medicinal use. This is known as foraging. I find that it is a wonderful reminder that God has provided us with everything that we need in this world…but that is another blog post for another day! 

One dictionary definition of foraging says that it means: to search about; seek; rummage; hunt or to wander in search of provisions

One of the things I love about walking at this time of year is blackberry picking and last year we found a beautiful walk with a spot that was just bursting full of blackberries. It has been a funny summer this year, and some of the fruit and veg we have attempted to grow hasn’t done too well due to the damp conditions, However we came to our blackberry patch last week with high expectations, and they were soon dashed! The blackberry patch that had been overflowing with sweet blackberries was not quite so impressive, but my husband is persistent and diligently went about picking blackberries. While he was seeking the juiciest of the blackberries we began to notice some of the other plants that were growing alongside the brambles and all of a sudden Paul began to recognise another fruit bearing plant. We had managed to find a wild blueberry patch. The amazing thing was, once we saw the blueberry plant, we became aware of lots more of the  blueberry bushes and their fruit. So alongside our haul of blackberries, we were able to add some small but beautifully sweet blueberries, although probably not as many as Paul would have liked, as I’m more of a “one-for-the-pot and one-for-the-gob forager!!

In my daily bible reading, I am currently reading Jeremiah. Now I love to read the bible, but the book of Jeremiah seems to have been going on for ages and isn’t the happiest or easiest of reads. I’m sure many of you know the book of Jeremiah due to the beautiful and famous verse that declares “For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future” This is one of my favourite verses of scripture, and I know all of the arguments about this verse being used out of context etc. But I love this verse in all of it’s difficult context, and as a woman who has walked through infertility for over 10 years, the assurance that God has good plans for me even as I wait in what can sometimes feel like captivity, is such a beautiful assurance. 

However, a couple of verses later is another one of my favourite verses, and one which has been sitting on my heart for a couple of weeks. Jeremiah 29:13 in the message translation says: 

“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.”  “Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.”

The niv version talks about seeking God with all your heart. When we begin to seek God and his kingdom above all other things, then we begin to see marks of the kingdom all around us, and once we have started to see it we cannot unsee it! Today we went on another walk in a completely different place, and it wasn’t long on our path before we started to see blueberry bushes everywhere! Although it was a place we hadn’t visited, the terrain was very similar to many places we have been before on walks. As we picked another load of blueberries, which would later become delicious blueberry muffins, we discussed how the discovery of the blueberries last week had meant that we could spot them so much easier today. We also talked about how often in the past we must have walked past an abundance of blueberries without even noticing. 

Matthew 7:7-8 in the passion translation says

“Ask, and the gift is yours. Seek, and you’ll discover. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. For every persistent one will get what he asks for. Every persistent seeker will discover what he longs for. And everyone who knocks persistently will one day find an open door.”

When we seek God with all our heart and discover what we long for, we are never the same. The challenge for each of us is are we persistently seeking God with all our hearts in our own lives?