Are we obligated to seek God?

[stoplooklisten]

Are we not obligated to seek God?

Are we “entitled” to stand on “God’s green earth”, breath the air, drink the water, eat the food and not seek answers to ultimate questions like:

Where did we come from?
Where are we going?
Is there a God to whom we owe thanksgiving and more?
Are there an eternal heaven and hell?

Acts 17:26-27 appears to assert that God created the human race for the purpose of having us seek God (and it implies that we are obligated).

 

[christismylord]

Acts 17:26-27: “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”

God chose Abraham to be the father of the Jewish nation, and God was faithful to mold and guide the people and reveal His Will to them, and all this so that these people would seek and find Him. And as heirs to Abraham’s promise through Jesus, we inherit the gift of seeking and finding God through Christ!

Isaiah 43:20-21 says “…my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.”

We are made to glorify Him and praise Him!

Jeremiah 29:11-13 “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 hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.“

God draws us to Himself, (for no one could come to God by themselves; Jesus says “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” ~John 6:44) Then we must seek His Will with all of our hearts and seek to glorify Him and serve Him.

So yes, we inherit a “responsibility” of sorts, to seek God and obey Him and love Him. But I see it more as a wonderful purpose and gift. Our purpose is to glorify Him and He, being Love, gives us the opportunity to enjoy Him forever for eternity in Heaven.

As Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38)

 

[christismylord]

Where did we come from?
Where are we going?
Is there a God to whom we owe thanksgiving and more?
Are there an eternal heaven and hell?

1. God made Adam and Eve from dust and breathed life into them, now we are born by procreation and God forms us in our mother’s womb and gives us life and an eternal spirit
2. To either Heaven or Hell with a possibility of purgatory in between here and Heaven
3. Most definitely, He made us and died for us to give us eternal life
4. Yes

We should study His Word, but our purpose and job is simply to trust Him, love Him, and follow Him. To do His Will and serve Him by serving others. We don’t need to question everything, but if God gave you a curious mind, seek Him in whatever ways you like!

Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”

 

[fhansen]

The following are some relevant teachings from the catechism:

27 The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for:

The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God. This invitation to converse with God is addressed to man as soon as he comes into being. For if man exists it is because God has created him through love, and through love continues to hold him in existence. He cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and entrusts himself to his creator.1

28 In many ways, throughout history down to the present day, men have given expression to their quest for God in their religious beliefs and behavior: in their prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations, and so forth. These forms of religious expression, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them, are so universal that one may well call man a religious being :

From one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him - though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For "in him we live and move and have our being."2

29 But this “intimate and vital bond of man to God” (GS 19 § 1) can be forgotten, overlooked, or even explicitly rejected by man.3 Such attitudes can have different causes: revolt against evil in the world; religious ignorance or indifference; the cares and riches of this world; the scandal of bad example on the part of believers; currents of thought hostile to religion; finally, that attitude of sinful man which makes him hide from God out of fear and flee his call.4

30 "Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice."5 Although man can forget God or reject him, He never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness. But this search for God demands of man every effort of intellect, a sound will, “an upright heart”, as well as the witness of others who teach him to seek God.

continued:

 

[fhansen]

You are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised: great is your power and your wisdom is without measure. And man, so small a part of your creation, wants to praise you: this man, though clothed with mortality and bearing the evidence of sin and the proof that you withstand the proud. Despite everything, man, though but a small a part of your creation, wants to praise you. You yourself encourage him to delight in your praise, for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.6

2088 The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith:

Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.

2089 Incredulity is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it. " Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him."11

2104 "All men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and his Church, and to embrace it and hold on to it as they come to know it."26 This duty derives from "the very dignity of the human person."27 It does not contradict a “sincere respect” for different religions which frequently "reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men,"28 nor the requirement of charity, which urges Christians "to treat with love, prudence and patience those who are in error or ignorance with regard to the faith."29

 

[Margaret_Ann]

Marvelous posts. One addition, if I may: Since the Fall, one of the effects original sin is ignorance. Men know they have to seek God but cannot do this by themselves.

As St. Paul writes in Romans, they worshipped the creature instead of the Creator. The folklore of all mankind has various false deities instead of the Triune God. Until Our Lord came, mankind was ignorant about the Trinity. Now we have new false deities - TV, FB, Twitter to name a few - which clamor for the attention of men instead of listening to the voice of God in the soft breeze. C.f. 3(1) Kings

I’m going to take my own advice now and sign off. Good night!

 

[Katie777]

Huh. Yes you are. And when you find Him your life will change.

 

[po18guy]

Well, gratitude would tend to lead one in that direction, but as we see, many completely defy and deny God. We have that freedom, therefore, we must…

…choose wisely.

 

[IWantGod]

Are we not obligated to seek God?

Given that God exists, and that we are created to be with God in an eternal relationship, it follows that to be without God is to be in an unnatural state of being. It is unnatural for us to be atheists or to be ignorant of God. But we are fallen creatures and so we tend to seek God only in ourselves or material things rather than God himself. They make a God out of creation; and they say this is God.

We are obligated to seek God, but this is a fact that we only discover at some point in our journey through life.

 

[Hodos]

Acts 17:26-27 appears to assert that God created the human race for the purpose of having us seek God (and it implies that we are obligated).

We were created in the likeness of God (Genesis 1). However, in the Fall we chose rather to remain in communion with God, to determine good and evil for ourselves apart from God. This was original sin. Romans 1 seems to emphasize this as men, who know that God exists, by suppressing the truth, do not honor him as God, but substituted the creation for the creator. So, I am not sure whether your description quite describes the obligation to seek God in that sense, but we are definitely obligated to seek God. This is why someone who in the civil realm who demonstrates just behavior to his fellow man can be simultaneously damned before God apart from faith.