Those who have seen God for who He is and themselves as He sees them will have a healthy restlessness that drives them to get closer and closer to Him. Those who think they are right with God and do not see any need to press on to know Him and His ways better have not really seen Him at all. One one hand, God is the pearl of greatest value for which we are willing to give up all our earlier pearls, and on the other hand the wonder of His grace towards us who truly deserve only His judgment causes us to cling to Him for life itself. Many people who consider themselves as Christians have not had their eyes opened to see things this way, and that is a great warning for them to realise that they have not yet become true Christians. They may have come 'near' to God through different paths such as miraculous healing or answers to prayer, but Jesus was radically clear that unless we are born again, there is no way to be in the kingdom of God (Jn.3:3). Before we can walk as Christians, we must become one, and that is only through seeing ourselves as sinners in the sight of the holy God, confessing and turning away from our sins and receiving forgiveness based on the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.
Having entered through the narrow gate, we now have to walk on the narrow path that differentiates us from the way the people of the world live. When we begin to show the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our daily life, that is the ultimate proof that God has made us His children. We also become aware that if we are to bear this fruit, we have to abide in Him because we cannot bear such fruit by ourselves. Let us look at a few of the characteristics of those who abide in Him.
One important thing is that we now trust in God entirely and what He has said in His word, instead of leaning on our own understanding (Pr.3:5-7). World opinions change with time, and so-called experts come out with theories that go contrary to godly values. But even though we are living in this world, we must remember that we have been taken out of this world to be a special people for God. We are to be conformed into image of His Son Jesus rather than to this world (Ro.12:2).
The more we recognise the sinfulness of our old nature which is still in us and which keeps opposing the work of the Holy Spirit in us (Ga.5:17), the more strongly we will cling to the help that comes from God. Then we can experience that grace not only shows us unmerited favour but also gives us help to overcome when we are tempted (He.4:16). The weaker we recognise ourselves as and cling to God, we give God the opportunity to work His power through us (2Co.12:9).
Our very life and existence are from God. The more conscious we become about that, we give up our self-confidence, self-sufficiency and boasting and learn to lean on God and submit to Him (Ja.4:14,15).
So a man seeking God is not just someone who is trying to find God, but also one who wants to be more in line with God.