Adam, Adam where are you?

Have you ever lost anything? Something inconsequential? Or something vital?

I’ve lost my keys repeatedly.  I think I have chosen a place I would always find them only to find them missing when I went to retrieve them.  I get so aggravated with myself!  Grrrr!

But I have lost things that were vital also.  I once sang for an event and received a substantial gratuity.  I stuck it somewhere I was certain I would remember.  Several months later I remembered I had squirreled that money away but for the life of me I could not mentally retrace my steps as I have done many times before to find it.  Sometime later, I was invited to sing at a similar event and as I was getting the suitable music out I discovered a unique bookmark.  My payment for the last event.

The scriptures refresh this important advisory and the subsequent reactions.  Luke 14 and 15 carry a story about a woman who owned some money.  As she got it out one day, she realized one of the coins was absent.  She searched high and low to find it.  She swept and hunted until she found it, then called her friends and neighbors to celebrate her joy in recovering her loss.

Luke 15 recounts the story of a man who had a hundred sheep and having lost one retraced his journey until he found the lost one. He returned to his community carrying his sheep and celebrated with his friends and neighbors his joy.  We expect that kind of behavior from God but surprisingly we don’t always celebrate the reverse of the search and yet we are admonished to do so.

Instead of hunting the physical things we think we can’t do without like food, clothing, shelter etc., (Matthew 6:33) we are encouraged to seek things with eternal value: the kingdom of God and His righteousness 

But in a more intimate way, we must seek the LORD, our God, and we WILL find Him if we seek Him with all our hearts and all our souls. (Deuteronomy 4:29)

Proverbs 8:17 God says, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.”

1 Chronicles 15:2b: The LORD is with you when you are with Him.  If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

Isaiah 55:6:  Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.

Psalm 119:2: Blessed are those who keep His testimonies and seek Him with all their heart.

Luke 11: He who seeks finds.

Hebrews 11:6: God. . . . He rewards those who earnestly seek Him

Psalm 14:2:  The LORD looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God.

God expects us to search for Him; to seek Him.  The rewards of such diligence are eternal.  Christ found a pearl (us) in a field so he purchased the field at great price.  We should pursue him with similar perseverance.

(Cathy Bayert is pastor of Greybull First Baptist Church.)