A Scripture Connection

I have found that the more I read the Bible, and thus the more I know of it, the more I am able to make connections between passages and truths. I made one today during my quiet time. The passage below was part of my Scripture reading.

2 Chronicles 15:12-15
"12 They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul. 13 All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14 They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. 15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side."

The emphasis is mine. The context of this passage is that Judah and Benjamin, under the leadership of King Asa, had just returned from a battle that the LORD had won for them. The connection I made was with a well known passage in Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 29:11-14
"11 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. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

Again, the emphasis is mine, to show the connection between the two. In the Jeremiah passage, God gives the promise that if we seek him with all our hearts, we will find Him. The 2 Chronicles passage is a real-life example of this promise fulfilled. In this case the people of Judah and Benjamin sought God with all their hearts and, as promised, they found God. I think that's pretty cool.

Some of you may point out that the Jeremiah 29 promise was given quite a while after the 2 Chronicles event happened. True, but this is not the first time that this promise has been given. It's just the passage that I made the connection with. Here's another instance of this promise. I'm sure there are more of them too. I included some verse before and after the promise to give it context; the emphasis is mine to highlight it for you. Moses is the one speaking.

Deuteronomy 4:25-31
"25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and provoking him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. 27 The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. 28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. 29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath."

I also think that the promise is not only a promise, but it is also a principle of spiritual life that has always been true. So, go and seek the One and Only with all your heart and you will find Him.