Lost And Found

How many of you have found yourself looking for something that was lost, but no matter how hard you searched, you couldn’t find it? I think we can all say that this has happened to us at some point.

There is a commercial running on the TV right now where a man is searching the house over trying to find his eyeglasses. He’s looking in cushions, under the sofa, everywhere he can and he can’t find them. When he asks his wife if she has seen them, she looks at him and says, “Oh they’re around here somewhere.” Of course she knows exactly where the glasses are because she sees them on top of his head. He has them on but doesn’t realize it. That may seem funny to her and us who are watching it all happen, but I wonder if that man will find it funny when he realizes that he’s been searching for nothing, and no one told him the truth?

One person may think that it’s all fun and games, but another may be very serious. Sometimes those things backfire to cause problems that we wish we hadn’t started.

Just let me say that if you ever see me crawling around on the floor looking for anything and you know where it is, don’t keep it a secret. If I’ve gotten down there, what I’m looking for has to be very important. It takes a lot of effort to get down there and crawl around. It’s no joking matter because when I get down, getting up again takes a lot of effort, and sometimes it’s just easier to stay there for a while and see what else is on the floor that I might need.

The thing is that we all lose things, and some things that are lost are never found again. It always amazes me that when you lose something and other people see you looking for it, they always ask, “Well, where did you lose it?” I think to myself, “If I knew where I lost it, it wouldn’t be lost would it.” And don’t you think that if I knew the last place I had it, that I would already have looked there?” I may not be the brightest star in the sky, but at least give me some credit.

Quite often, as you all come and go here at the church, someone finds things that are left behind or lost. Since we don’t know who they belong to we begin asking around, or put them where you might can find them again. I’ve had jackets, sweaters, rings, bibles and other things that were never reclaimed. Some things obviously have very little value so after a while we just get rid of them because whoever owns them think that seeking for them isn’t worth the effort.

There is a passage of scripture where Jesus is speaking. I know that because it’s written in the “Red Letters”, and when I’m reading in the red letters I really pay close attention because I know that it’s the very word of God coming from the mouth of God.

I believe that whole Bible is inspired, anointed and true, and that it is all the word of the Lord. I want to know all of it, discover all I can about it, and live by it. I know it teaches me how to be like Jesus. I want to know how my God thinks; how he loves; how he cares for his people; what he expects of me in order to be a profitable servant, and obedient son, and a man who after God’s own heart. Everything I believe; everything I try to teach; everything I base my whole life on; and everything I trust in for not only the life that I live in this world, but the life that I seek to have in the world to come, it all based on the foundation of the word of God, for it is the only foundation that I’m convinced will never fail.

I use many resources to help me understand what the Bible teaches, but no matter what resources I use, whether it’s printed commentaries, historical or traditional teaching of the Jews, or of world history; or whether it is other teaching and insights given through sermons and messages through other preachers; or wherever I can find anything that helps me to understand the word of God more, it is all very valuable to me. I know that I’m not wise enough, or educated enough, or smart enough to find as much information as I can on my own.

I search for everything nugget I can, by mining it from every resource I can find, knowing that there is always more depth, height and width of God’s word than I have already found. I know that the Holy Ghost leads me and he reveals to me so much as I search God’s word, but I also know that I am often dull of hearing and I can easily miss what the Holy Ghost is trying to reveal to me. And he uses many things to speak to me. I’ve had him give me sermons off of a billboard along the highway; off of commercials on the TV or radio; and from scriptures included in other minister’s sermons. I refuse to limit where I can get a word from the Lord, and it often comes from the least expected places and in the most uncommon ways.