Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Jeremiah 29:13

"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." When you first think of the words “seek” or “search” one would think that someone or something is hiding and we need to start looking around not sure where or how to search. We often get confused, maybe like it is a game. This is not the way Jesus Christ wants us to seek him, he is not hiding. Thomas S Monson has said “The formula for finding Jesus has always been and ever will be the same—the earnest and sincere prayer of a humble and pure heart.” The prophet Jeremiah counseled, “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:13.) Before we can successfully undertake a personal search for Jesus, we must first prepare time for him in our lives and room for him in our hearts. In these busy days there are many who have time for friends, time for shopping, time for work, time for play—but no time for Christ. Look in your heart, make room in your heart, and Christ will be there. Have a great day, Love Sister MaryAnn Jensen

1 comment:

Alison said...

Thank you Sister Jensen. I love your post! Each morning as I have read each post, the spirit has touched my heart, and I have felt so blessed to work with amazing women. As I read your post last night, I was reminded of a talk by Patricia Holland from a BYU Women’s Conference. It was 15 years ago, and I felt overwhelmed with four children ages 4, 6, 8, and 10, and I was struggling to find time to “seek” my Heavenly Father through prayer, scripture study, and meditation. This talk was a life changing event for me and was preparation as my life would become even more challenging with the birth of my fifth child, and my husband called to be bishop of our ward during the following two years.
She said that when her life felt difficult, she needed to turn off the phone, lock the door, kneel in earnest prayer, search the scriptures, and cry out again and again in her heart until she felt a connection with Him and a confirmation of His love. She then said, “Now I can hear every one of you saying, ‘Pat get real. We don’t have five minutes to do that, let alone an hour or two. We are exhausted now just trying to keep up with things.’ I know all about your life because it is my life, too. I am busy also, and I have been for as long as I can remember. I know what it is like to chauffeur teenagers, face the laundry, serve in the Church and in the community, and be married to one of the Lord’s equally busy servants. But that has everything to do with the point I wish to make. I realize that life has to go on and that you will not be able to pursue this heavenly communication in a completely uninterrupted way, but if it is a high priority and a fundamental goal in your life, you will find ways, early or late, to be with God. If the key to your car or your mortgage payment check or a child were lost, would you take time to find them? Wouldn’t finding them provide the peace you need to then go about your day? If God is lost in your life and you are not going to be strong or stable without him, can you be focused and fixed enough to find him?”
I realized that God was lost in my life, I was making time for other things, and I needed to take the time to seek Him.