What are you looking for? – September 12, 2022

The Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days.
Hosea 3:5

What are you looking for?

What are you looking for? Is it a lost set of keys or something more? Are you searching for peace in troubling times? Are you seeking comfort and security? Whether it’s a lost item or something more, we do a lot of searching.

In the days of the prophet Hosea, the Israelites were looking for something more. Sadly, they were looking in all the wrong places. They were looking for peace and hope in false gods. They were looking for comfort and security in cozy homes and cushy lifestyles. The more they searched, the more they got lost. They lost sight of the only true God who rescued and blessed them.

Ironically, in our searching, at times, we lose sight of the only one who can provide that something more. Thankfully, we have a God whose searching skills are far greater than our own! Imagine a child lost in the grocery store. He panics and tries to find his mother. But then his mom come from behind, calling his name. He turns and runs into his mother’s arms and says, “I found you!” Really it was his mother who found him. She came searching and calling her child’s name.

The Israelites would return and seek the Lord because the Lord, in his searching love, came after his lost children and called them back to his love. This is what it’s like for us. If it depended on our searching skills, we would still be lost looking for that something more in all the wrong places. But the Lord is the God who searches. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to seek and to save the lost. He called you by name. And like that boy, you can exclaim, “I found you!” when really he sought you and found you in his love. And in him, we find that something more—peace in troubling times, comfort, and security now and forever.

Prayer:
Lord, in your love, you sought me when I sought you not. Now that you have found me by your great love, may I always come to you to find what my searching heart is looking for. Amen.