“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
An old man, near the end of his life, tells his son the one thing he actually wants him to know. Not how to rule, not how to win wars, not how to keep the throne. Know God. Serve him with a whole heart. That's the whole charge.
What catches you, maybe, is the reasoning behind it: God searches every heart and understands every motive. Not just your actions — your reasons for them. That's an uncomfortable kind of honesty to imagine, someone who sees past whatever story you tell yourself about why you do what you do.
But notice the door left open right after that: if you seek him, he will be found by you. Not hide from you, not make you earn it through some elaborate process. Found. That's a strange kind of promise to make about a being who supposedly knows everything about you already — that the search itself is what he responds to, not a finished résumé of belief.
What would it mean to actually search, instead of waiting until you feel qualified to?
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.