Treasure Hunt

May all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, “The LORD is great!”

Psalm 40:16

God has made himself imminently findable. He created us with Godward longings and then positioned himself in full view.

When we begin seeking God, it is because he is seeking us. His pull on our hearts causes us to desire him: “‘If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,’ says the LORD” (Jeremiah 29:13–14). Look carefully at what he says. When you seek him—when you respond to his pull on your heart—you will, without a doubt, find him: “I will be found by you.” He makes himself the subject—the doer of the action. He will do the “being found.” God isn’t playing hide-and-seek. He is standing in your path, waving his arms, and shouting in a loud voice, “Here I am!”

The book of Hebrews tells us that God “rewards those who sincerely seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). The reward of a search is finding that for which you are searching. For example, a person who is searching for sunken treasure would feel himself rewarded by finding sunken treasure. God rewards those who seek him. What is that reward? Himself. God said to Abraham, “I am . . . your very great reward” (Genesis 15:1, NIV). When he himself—not blessings by way of him—is the focus of our search, we are extravagantly, exorbitantly rewarded. When we find him, we find everything. He promises that when we find him, we will find the joy and gladness we so desire. David wrote, “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever” (Psalm 16:11).

Lord, I crave you. More of you. All of you. Only you.

God, of Your goodness, give me Yourself; for You are sufficient for me. I cannot properly ask anything less to be worthy of You. If I were to ask less, I should always be in want. In You alone do I have all.

Julian Of Norwich(c. 1342–after 1413), English Christian mystic and writer