Have you ever bitten into what you thought was a delicious chocolate chip cookie, anticipating the taste of chocolate, only to be sorely disappointed with the realization that those brown dots were raisins?
Have you ever gone to church searching for answers only to leave feeling more confused than when you entered. What looked like a church on the outside was just a social gathering on the inside. Or worse yet, what the preacher was saying didn’t seem to line up with the bible.
If you are dissatisfied with religion, you are not the first. Jesus Christ himself became very upset when he went into the Temple and discovered that it was being used for buying and selling as opposed to a place of worship (Matthew 21:12).
If you are searching for something to satisfy the longing in your soul, for a sincere experience with God, then you are on the road to discovery.
Much of our success in finding God is based upon our earnest searching. Deuteronomy 4:29 instructs, “But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” It is man’s duty to seek and serve his Creator. It is written in Psalms 63:1, “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;” I can picture God peering down from heaven into the hearts of man, trying to find if there is one that may seek Him. When God finds a soul that is longing after him, he will do anything to help that soul find truth.
In Mark 4:5-20, Jesus speaks about the hearts of men in terms of different types of ground. There are different reasons that cause people to give up in their search for truth. Some don’t want to give up those things in their life that they know God is displeased with. Some allow Satan to steal their desire for truth and become disinterested. Some find it too difficult to endure any suffering for Christ’s sake. And, others allow the cares of life and the pleasures of this life to choke their zeal for God. We must desire the treasure of salvation so much that we will not allow anything to stand in the way of our search for truth.
God is calling people everywhere to salvation. He is looking for hearts typlified by Mark 5:20. “And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.” If you will seek after God with your whole heart, God will reward your search. Jeremiah 29:11-13 states, “For I know the thoughts that I have toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
Every scavenger hunt is done in search of some treasure. What is this spiritual treasure that we must seek after? It is truth. Is truth some vague notion, that we cannot clearly understand until we reach heaven? This is not the case. God’s word tells us that God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). The Bible also tells us that there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:4-6). God has given us His Word to use as our map to find the truth. Through it, he has clearly marked the way for mankind to be saved from sin and live a holy life pleasing to Him.
Only being religious is not the answer, just as raisin cookies can never taste like chocolate chip. Some people try to look the part, but when you get close enough to see the hypocrisy in their lives, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
God wants souls to seek Him so that he can lead them to The Church of God. In these last days the truth is still being preached in Gods church. It is written in Micah 4:1-2, “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow into it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” God will never disappoint your soul. The way of truth still satisfies.
