Why does man seek God? It’s really too deep of a question for a non-philosopher like me to answer. So, I’ll ask, why do I seek God? In my current life situation, I am blessed with the time to study the Bible in depth. I read, I translate, I watch lectures. But why? I have always been a person who loves learning for the sake of learning. I was that irritating person who reminded the teacher that we were supposed to have a test that day. Because of this tendency, I ask myself regularly, Why are you learning Greek? Why do you spend hours looking for cross-references for Bible study? Why do you want to know more about God? These questions might sound silly, with obvious answers, but sitting down and writing out those answers has been crucial for me.

Ask three people why they read the Bible and you will likely get three different answers. How many of us, if we’re being honest, only read it because we’re “supposed to”? Others, perhaps, read it to know what’s in it – in a “Bible trivia” kind of way. Many people read and study the Word to find out how they should live. None of these reasons is inherently bad. We all go through seasons in which we only read God’s book because he told us to, and it is a good thing to know the details of the Bible’s story and be able to fit its pieces together. I think the third reason is the most common, but also the most dangerous motivator for reading the Bible: to learn how we should live.

But why is that bad,you might say. Surely, God gave us his Word to guide us in our daily lives? Which perhaps brings us to a better question: Why does God seek man? From Eden to Abraham to David to us, God has pursued his errant children. And of course, if you read your Bible, you know why. For God so loved the world…. God gave us his Word, written down as well as in the person of Jesus, out of love and a desire that we draw near to him. As any of us who have been a Christian long enough know, God’s desire for us to have abundant life does not mean giving us earthly comfort, wealth, and happiness.

So, why does God want us to draw near to him if it might lead to suffering and pain? Why did he give us the Bible if not to instruct us on how to walk well before him? The Bible definitely teaches us practical things about life as foreigners on earth. But if you tease these things out of the Book to apply them to your own life in your own way, you will fail. The Bible, thanks be to the Lord, is a book about God. We are not the main characters of the story. All of creation, all love, all beauty – they flow from him, sustained by and for Christ our Lord. The Bible doesn’t (or shouldn’t) primarily teach us how to live. God gave us the Word to teach us about himself, not because he is arrogant and craves praise, but because it is only through the revelation of his character that we are able to follow his commands with pure motives. The Pharisees provide an excellent example of the danger of knowing Scripture devoid of the knowledge of God.

When I get caught up in the details of Greek prepositions and their influence on theology, I often need to take a step back and ask myself, Why? Why am I spending so much time and effort on this? Too often, the answer is that I like learning things and knowing details. Whenever this happens, I seek reorientation. It is why, every time I open a textbook or commentary, and especially the Bible, I pray. I pray that my heart and mind are aimed upward, not inward. I read and study because I want to know God better. The better I know God, the more reason I have to love him. The better I know God, the more easily I can discern his will. The better I know God, the better I can bring hope to others. None of the reasons to study the Word that I mentioned above are bad. God longs for us to persevere in seeking him when we would rather watch TV. He loves to see us walk uprightly before him. But these things are merely “vanity, vanity” if they do not originate in the knowledge and love of our Creator and Savior.

So, let us ask ourselves why whenever we drag ourselves to church instead of sleeping in. When we crack open our Bible to check off that day’s box on our Bible-in-a-year reading plan, let us ask why? Most importantly, let us pray. Pray to God not for a “yes” or “no” about switching jobs or for relationship advice. Pray instead for God to reveal his character to you day-by-day, and through that knowledge, grant discernment, wisdom, and the assurance that, no matter our job, our spouse, or even our physical health, God always desires our good.