Within the church world, much attention - good and bad - has been given to the words 'seek' and 'seeker' during the past 20 years. The truth is, we are ALL seekers. Aren't we?
In years past, when my children were small, I would walk thru my house and occasionally stuff a bag known theoretically as the give-away bag. This was reserved for objects that laid on the floor too long - never played with - never thought about or talked about - never picked up and put away - no longer sought after. If the object was stepped on with no regret, it went in the give-away bag.
You do wonder about the items in the give-away bag. Will they find a new home? Should we sell them on eBay? On occasion, second thoughts crept in. "Wow! I didn't realize I still had this thing. Maybe I should try to resuscitate it."
And then - sometimes we reached into another's give-away bag and an item that was dead to someone else became alive to us. Someone in the family really wanted that thing. Often, it was a toy.
Daughter: "But Dad, we really need this ... oh, please Dad, we won't ask for anything else the rest of the year."
Dad: "What about all the other toys you had to have? You never play with any of THEM anymore."
Daughter: "This time it will be different."
And for a few days or weeks - maybe even months - the object holds up its end of the deal. Things ARE different. However, in time - migration occurs - toward the give-away bag.
It is inevitable. And as I shake my head in disappointment that my daughters have let the must-have item die, I notice - just to my right - a deceased item that belongs ... to me.
Like my daughters, I am on the hunt for things that do not satisfy. What about you?
In an attempt to quench desire, we buy what we don't need, schmooze people we don't like, create personas we hope will make us more powerful or more beautiful. Yet many of these things end up in the graveyard. What's going on here? What are we looking for?
We are, by nature, SEEKERS. We seek for what we do not possess. ALL of us do. WHAT we seek may distinguish us from one another. THAT we seek reveals we are part of the same human family. And that need to SEEK is an intentional part of our design, placed there by God.
So - tomorrow ----- we'll follow this up with something related. But for now -- what have you sought after lately that ended up in the give-away bag? Just curious. The comment page is now open.
And be blessed.
2 comments:
The past several months I dreamed of one day meeting the right man and getting married. This dream has shifted more and more lately. Now, I am at a point, as of the past 2 weeks, that it just doesn't matter if it happens. A man would just distract me from the plans God has for me right now. I've prayed for a while now that I will fall in love with Jesus and give all of the passion and love to him that I would give to a man. I feel closer to the Lord than ever. I've come to the conclusion that if I never marry, but have the perfect man in Jesus Christ, then that is all I need.
So...my marriage plans have gone in the grab bag. As of today, I am saying YES to the Lord. I want Him to inhabit me and use me in any way He wants. I am ready and Your servant.
I am just catching up with these posts (on vacation...much needed family time). My bag? Materially speaking? Techie stuff and books, books, books! Spiritually speaking? All too often it involves anything I think is best for me (not what is best for God).
I believe we all have a yearning for "more" in our soul. I call it the "soul hole". God has placed it there so that we always seek more of Him. The closer I get to Him, the more I want. Yet, when I stray, I still feel the tug of my "soul hole". Sadly, it is all too easy for me to fill that hole with worldly possessions...and I find myself doing it all too often.
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