Seek, and Ye Shall Find.
By R. F. Cottrell
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” These promises are true and faithful—the person that truly asks, shall receive; and he that truly seeks, shall find. But there is such a thing as asking amiss; and of ostensibly seeking, but not in reality. Says an apostle, “Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss.” Again, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” He that asks, must ask in faith. Otherwise he has no claim on the promise. He that seeks, must seek in truth, or he has no promise that he shall find. If a man ask wisdom from God to guide him, he shall have it; if he seek the path of truth and duty, he shall find it. The way is not so obscure that it cannot be found. He that really desires to find the path of duty can find it. God has not left the path of duty obscure. The reason men seek it and do not find it, is because they have a choice that their way shall be the way. This may be illustrated by what I heard an Englishman relate of his travels. He was to make a choice whether to proceed by the way of London or Liverpool. When he came to the place where he was to decide which road to take, feeling undecided, he thought he would leave it to the lot, by setting up his cane and taking the direction in which it should fall. But, said he, I had a desire to see London, and so I leaned it a little that way. To seek of God is to have no choice of our own. When men come to seek the truth in that way, they will find it. They will find that the requirements of God are not hidden so that they cannot discern them—that they are hidden only to those who choose another way. Says an apostle, “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.” We cannot believe that the word of God is at fault, that men so differ and cannot find the one only true way. When they read a plain and obvious requirement of God, their minds are sometimes so blinded by prepossessions and unbelief that they doubt whether God requires them to obey; and, in their blindness of unbelief, they sometimes have the audacity to go and ask God in prayer whether he would have them obey, or, rather, whether the way of their choice will not be acceptable. Such seek their own way, and they find the way they seek. If they would truly seek the way of God, they would find it. We can come to no other conclusion, except this: that all who truly seek the path of duty, will find the same way. The Bible is not to blame for the discordant practices of those who profess to believe and obey it. Let us seek the path of duty by submitting our will to God, and having no choice but that he shall direct us in the way he would have us go. Truly doing this in faith, we may claim the promise, “Seek, and ye shall find.”