“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

A frequent response from people when spoken to about God is to say they cannot believe in God whom they have not seen. God does not reveal Himself to people who do not want to see Him. The miracle is that He manages to get anyone to want to see Him. Usually that is through a difficult or painful experience but can be the outcome of observing the beauty and wisdom of His creation.

The verse quoted above tells us that believing that God exists is the starting point and “diligently seeking” is our response and means through which He will reward seekers by revealing Himself to them. Complementary to the verse above is Proverbs 9:10 which reads, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is wisdom.”

“Fear of the Lord” means to stand in awe of Him. The wisdom and beauty of God is all around us if we wish to see it. The more we gaze at God’s creation the more we will stand in awe of Him. The more we gaze at the Lord Jesus Christ and His great salvation the more we will stand in awe of Him.

Humility and being teachable are like conjoined twins. We cannot have one without the other. However, being teachable and being willing to learn may not always be the same. A person may be willing to learn for personal gain yet be unteachable in regard to anything that he believes may hinder that objective. Personal gain is that which we believe will give us power, praise or wealth. In contrast, a person who is teachable wants to know the truth for its own sake because truth is in itself great gain. Humility will always accompany being teachable because it will often require the discarding of error that had previously been received as truth. Pride will resist such correction.

God will reward the one who is humble and teachable who then diligently seeks Him. Notice that the reward comes from seeking God for Himself not with a view to getting things from Him. The mercenary seeker will receive no knowledge of God. It is God’s gracious act to open our eyes as we seek Him and in the process He gives us understanding of Himself and reveals Himself to us. He will continue to reveal Himself more as we continue to diligently seek Him.

Wisdom is the correct application of that which has been revealed to us of God. Fortunately for us we can learn from the many right and wrong decisions and choices of others that are recorded in the Bible. We don’t have to make all the mistakes ourselves. Hebrews 11 is recorded for us so remind us that we can learn from them.

God does not force Himself on anyone but He will reveal Himself to the one who in humility, with a teachable heart continually diligently seeks Him. He will reward them with Himself in whom understanding and wisdom have their root. God Himself is the reward for those who seek Him and we who are treading this path are living witnesses who gladly testify that God is faithful to His word.