Search – November 23, 2020

For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.
Ezekiel 34:11

Search

The year is 1988. The country is China. The woman’s name is Li. Her son’s name is Jia. Jia is about 18 months old. In October of that year, Li receives news that is every parent’s nightmare. Her child is missing.

At first, Li assumes that her son has simply wandered off and that someone will soon find him and bring him home. It soon becomes clear, however, that people have very likely kidnapped her son with the intent of selling him to a childless family, a crime that is prevalent in China at the time.

Li, however, is determined to find her son. She begins her search. Days turn into weeks. Weeks turn into months. Months turn into years. As they do, the story of Li and her search gathers more and more attention. She receives hundreds of leads. She pursues every single one. Each is a dead end.

Then, in May of this year, Li receives word about a man who seems to fit her son’s description. The man agrees to a DNA test. It’s a match. When they finally meet, there are tears and smiles and more tears. Li’s extraordinary search of 32 years has come to an end.

You and I are part of a search too. Our own sin snatched us from God’s family and carried us off to a place that is barren, lonely, empty, cold. God’s heart, however, could not forget us. As hour heavenly Father, he refused to give up on us. As part of his rescue mission, God sent his Son, Jesus, to live a holy life on our behalf and to carry our every sin to the cross.

And now he seeks to bring this good news to every lost soul, including yours. Perhaps you are at a point in your life when you feel lost, adrift, forgotten. If so, remember what your heavenly father has done to find you and rescue you. You are not forgotten. You are his.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for your search. Thank you for seeking me out. Through faith in your Son, my home is in you. Amen.