No one understands; no one seeks for God.
—Romans 3:11
Here is a truth that may surprise you: religion does not seek the one true God. That sounds backward, but it’s true. Religion, at its core, is nothing more than man’s frail effort to create God in his own image, to reach up and manufacture a god he can manage.
But while religion is man’s quest to become like God, the Christian faith is the opposite. It is the story of God’s search for man. Isn’t that astonishing? That’s what sets Christianity apart from every religion in the world. Jesus said it Himself in Luke 19:10: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” He came looking for us.
This is exactly what Paul means when he writes, “no one seeks for God.” Left to ourselves, we don’t go searching for the true and living God. We wander off. We go our own way. So, when someone says, “I found the Lord,” the truth is sweeter than that, the Lord found them. You and I were the lost sheep, and He was the Shepherd who left the ninety-nine to come after us.
Now I know some people resent being told they’re sinful, that they weren’t even seeking God. If that stirs something defensive in you, pay close attention, because that resistance is the very part of our nature that rebels against God. It’s pride. And pride is the great barrier between a soul and its Savior.
But Romans 3:23 leaves no room for pride: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Every one of us. The religious and the irreligious. The respectable and the ruined. We are all lost on our own, all doomed to be separated from a holy God.
And yet, here is the gospel, in His endless love, God did not wait for us to find Him. He sent a Savior to find us. While we were running the other direction, Christ came looking, and He paid the ultimate price for our sin on the cross.
Think of what that means. You don’t have to climb your way up to God through religious effort. You couldn’t if you tried. The good news is that He came down to you. The Shepherd is already on the hillside, calling your name.
So don’t let your pride stand between you and eternity with a loving Father. Don’t let the offense of being called a sinner keep you from the joy of being called His child. Repent, turn from your sin, and follow the One who came all this way to seek you and save you. He found you. Now will you come?
RELIGION IS MAN’S SEARCH FOR GOD; THE GOSPEL IS GOD’S SEARCH FOR MAN. HE CAME LOOKING FOR YOU.
