Isaiah wrote, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near." Bartimaeus did, the women with the issue of blood did, the thief did. What is it to seek the Lord? 

1. It is to discover that by nature I do not have Him, His blessing, nor his presence. I am "without God in this world."
    
2. It is to desire his mercy, grace, and acceptance with Him more than anything in this world (Phil 3:10).
    
3. It is to be made willing to be saved in Christ, by Christ on His terms, that he might be just and justifier (Rom. 3:26).
    
4. It is to be willing to part with all that is contrary to Christ and with all who oppose my fellowship with Him.
    
5. It is to seek HIM, not His! Let us seek the Lord and "hope in the Lord", for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption (Psalm 130:7).

     Death to the believer is not a penalty, it is privilege; it is not destruction, it is graduation from ruin, it is not even loss, it is gain. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Psalm 116:15).