He stood in front of the open refrigerator. Scanned the shelves of cold food.
Perhaps if he waited long enough, the sandwich meat would read his mind. Then it could squeeze past the slab of bacon, open the deli drawer, and wave, “Here I am!”
Only, he was starving so he hollered, “I thought you bought turkey meat?”
“Did you search in the deli drawer?”
“Ohhhhh, there it is!”
This is not the first time this has happened—particularly when several males were living here—which leads me to believe….
Men bring home the bacon, but they’re often helpless when it comes to finding it—at least in my house.
You’d think our refrigerator was a giant, black hole. Food gets lost. Sometimes it turns green to get our attention. And still the men in my life, stand there, staring into the cold abyss.
No doubt, I have the same blank expression on my face when I open the car hood and look at the thingamabobs. Which leads me to my point—albeit not humorous.
Not everything is in plain view. If we’re not searching, we can’t expect to find it.
God says, “If you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me.” (Jeremiah 29:13)
Seek God.
Once He’s found….continually seek Him.
“Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always…Search for the LORD and for his strength; continually seek him.…” (Psalm 105:4)
When I served as a jail chaplain, women inmates learned that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. (Luke 19:10).
As we searched the scriptures, they’d put their faith in Christ and declare, “I’m a new person since I found Jesus.”
When they left jail, some of them returned to their old habits and landed back in jail—frustrated.
Addictions are difficult to overcome especially when the person’s environment and peers don’t change. However, the inmates admitted they had stopped seeking Jesus.
I’m no different. My life flounders when I stop seeking the Lord and rely, instead, on my own strength, wisdom, and ability to love others.
Seeking God requires effort. We can’t idly wait for God to show Himself. He says, “Seek Me with all your heart.”
Spiritual disciplines like Bible reading, prayer, one-on-one discipleship, and corporate worship are the means of seeking the Lord.
But seeking Him is more than a means of meeting our personal needs.
God wants to be wanted. He doesn’t want a passive, fast food relationship.
Instead of consuming daily devotions as we gulp a cup of coffee and hurry out the door….
We’re invited to “meet with God” in His Word. Pause in the busyness to pray so we can hear His voice and be led by His Spirit.
Christ paid for that privilege when He died on the cross and purchased us with His blood.
Why on earth would anyone settle for less?
“We love, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
Even In This 