Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

  Isaiah 55:6-7

“Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32, Romans 10:13). This one biblical truth has the promise of saving my soul and yours. This is one of those passages that I love to teach, preach, and declare. It’s the most important topic ever to face mankind, the most important decision any of us will make, and it comes with the most important of all promises…the salvation of the souls of fallen mankind.

The offer of salvation, forgiveness, healing, and restoration still stands and it is found in the Person of Jesus Christ. Our passage today perfectly incapsulates this amazing truth.

Seek And Call Upon The Lord

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.” The Bible tells us to “seek the Lord.” What does it mean to seek God? Seeking comes when we acknowledge our sheer desperation. Seeking comes when we realize that God desires to know us. Seeking comes when our hearts are unsatisfied with what this world has to offer and we turn to a life-giving God, full of grace and mercy. “Calling on” the Lord is the reaching out of our heart to His. It’s vocalizing our need in prayer, a cry out to the One True God. And just like seeking, calling on God comes from a heart of desperation. When we come to the end of ourselves, understanding our need for redemption, and acknowledging that nothing would even exist apart from God, apart from Christ (John 1:1-5), we are ready to receive salvation.

But what does it mean when it says that we should seek God “while He may be found?” Is God hiding from us? Of course not! God is ever-present and His Spirit is living within all of those who have called on the Lord. God doesn’t hide nor does He evade His creation. Quite the contrary, He desires to have a relationship with you! He is present right now, whenever you may find yourself, and His love is but a prayer away. “Seek the Lord while He may be found” and “call upon Him while He is near” are both expressions of instruction and warning at the same time. The instruction to “seek” and “call” both tell of the amazing offer of salvation that God provides through faith in Jesus Christ for all who will “call upon His name.” The warning is that there will come a day when salvation will no longer be offered. Certainly, when we draw our last breath, we either move into eternity fully positioned in Christ (saved) or we tragically pass from this life apart from Christ with no possibility of ever being retrieved from judgment, condemnation, and eternal damnation. That may sound harsh but the reality is that all of us have transgressed all of God’s law and all stand guilty before Him (Romans 5:18, James 2:10). However, the good news, known as the gospel, is that we can all be found in Christ today. We can all live in the power of God’s Spirit today. We can all experience new life and eternal salvation in Jesus Christ right now! As I’m typing this, I have ringing in my ears the lyrics to the song, “If We’ve Ever Needed You,” by Casting Crowns. “If we’ve ever needed you, Lord it’s now!” That is the sentiment of Isaiah 55. “Seek the Lord while He may be found.” “Call upon Him while He is near!”

Forsaking Our Ways And Thoughts 

“Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” Let’s be honest…apart from a complete, spiritual transformation through faith in Jesus Christ, being born again (Colossians 1:13-14, John 3:3), and filled with the Holy Spirit, all of us will choose wickedness and unrighteousness. We are, at our very core, rebellious and opposed to God (James 4:4). The sin nature that we have all inherited from Adam, the first man, infects all of us. For a Holy God to accept such depravity, sinfulness, and unrighteousness, there has to be a price paid, there has to be an offering given on our behalf. Well that price has been paid and that offering has already been made and it was done on the cross of Jesus Christ. That’s why Jesus isn’t just an option, He is the only way to the Father, to heaven, and to eternal life (John 14:6). When we are born again and spiritually transformed, we begin a brand new life in Christ, life abundant, uncommon, and superior to the life that we lived prior to our salvation. We are now positioned in Christ, saved, redeemed, and enjoy life abundant, full, and eternal. There simply isn’t a better life than that of being in Christ and enjoying unhindered fellowship with God. And because we now have the Spirit of God living within us, we are now able to forsake our wicked ways. We are now able to cast aside those things that once captivated our minds and hearts. The world and its ways are now no longer palatable rather it is the things of God that now capture our hearts. Does this mean that there will be no temptation or pull on our flesh from the world? Of course not! As long as we live in these bodies of flesh, our minds and hearts are subject to the “pulling” away by the world’s philosophies, the enemy, and the lies that encapsulate all of it. But the spiritual safeguard that we have in Jesus and His Spirit is that our devotion is now aimed at Him and not the world. God gives us everything necessary for us to be victorious over sin and death, our old way of living, and all of the trappings into which the unbelieving world falls (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:22-24). 

Compassion And Abundant Pardon

“…and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” The promise of seeking God, calling on Him, and forsaking our old way of living, is twofold. First, is compassion. God understands what it means to walk in human flesh (Hebrews 4:14-16). He understands what it means to be frail, weak, human. While maintaining all of His sovereignty and authority over the universe, God stepped into human flesh and walked this earth in the form of the Son, Jesus Christ (John 1:14). And because of His willingness to do this, He can relate. That doesn’t mean that He just excuses human depravity, quite the contrary. He didn’t come to “tip His hat” toward sin rather He came to set us free from it! So, for those who call upon the name of the Lord, having come to the end of themselves, and admitting their need for a Savior, the spiritual path can now be cleared for us to receive the fullness of God’s mercy and compassion. If you type in the word “compassion” into a search engine, you are likely to see something similar to, “a concern for other’s suffering, coupled with a strong desire to help relieve it.” That is a great definition for what God wants to do in the life of anyone willing to forsake their ways, seek the Lord, and call upon His name. 

Secondly, is pardon and not just pardon rather “abundant” pardon. We should always pay attention when the scripture uses words that describe going beyond the norm. God pardons and He does so with great abundance. In other words, He is not short on it nor unwilling to do so. Pardon and forgiveness are perfectly linked. To pardon is to forgive. Pardon from others in this world is usually conditional and in some cases not even existent. People, at times, choose to hold onto the pain of offenses, refusing to pardon or forgive. This is tragic because the unwillingness to forgive only serves to imprison the one withholding the forgiveness. But with God, things are different. He is perfect, holy, and just. It is part of His nature to pardon and to forgive us as we seek Him with all of our heart (Romans 8:1, 1 John 1:9). 

“Seek the Lord while He may be found” and “call upon Him while He is near.” These are more than just good suggestions, they are instructions designed to bring us to saving faith in Jesus Christ. These words have the power to give life, abundant and eternal. The offer still stands! Why not call upon the Lord this very night and receive the salvation, healing, forgiveness, and restoration that He so greatly desires for you to experience!

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.

    1 Timothy 1:15