Chapter 1: The Reward of a Search

Bill Gothard

School was out for the day and I was walking home. I remember passing a white picket fence as I quoted a verse of the Bible that I had been memorizing. My 12-year-old mind tried to comprehend the reason for the repetition of three words: “That He is” and “that He is.”

The full verse reads: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

As I pondered this repetition, it suddenly became clear to me. The first “that He is” refers to God. He told Moses that His name was “I Am.” He always was and will always be. He is eternal.

The second “that He is” refers to what God will do for those that diligently seek Him. I kept repeating the message of that verse. “God is,” He lives, and He is a rewarder of all those who diligently seek Him. With the illumination of that verse, I purposed that I would seek Him as diligently as I could throughout my life and look forward to whatever reward He chose to give.

What happened to me that day was what Scripture refers to as a “rhema.” A message from the Bible directed by the Spirit of God for special application in my life. Jesus promised, “If ye abide in me, and my words [rhema] abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).