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“Look and you will find it – what is unsought will go undetected.” Sophocles
I heard my son’s urgent voice bellowing down from his room, “Mommm! I can’t find my blue t-shirt anywhere! Where did you put it?”
“I remember folding it and placing it on the bed with your other clean clothes,” I called back up the stairs. “Maybe you put it away with some other things in the wrong drawer.”
“No, I would never do that. Are you sure you didn’t put it in Grant’s pile by mistake?”
“I may have, but I don’t think so. Go ahead and ask him to look just in case.”
And so it begins; the desperate search for a favorite shirt which, by the way, happens to turn up right where I predicted – clean and neatly folded in the wrong dresser drawer.
Funny thing is; had the shirt not been his favorite, who knows if he would have realized it was misplaced. It would have eventually surfaced during a closet clean-out, but that may have taken weeks. I stopped myself from passing judgement and chose to look within. How often in the mad rush to find something of my own do I fail to look in the most obvious spot – right where it belongs.
My mind was swirling with Sophocles, favorite shirts, and misplaced treasures when it hit me. It’s only the truly important stuff that I actually seek out to find. I took it a step further and applied this principle to the decisions in my life. When I struggle to determine an action plan based on my everyday circumstances, do I neglect to pull wisdom from the most obvious source, too?
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” 2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)
God’s words in the bible are meant to be referenced and used on a daily basis. His words are timeless and living and active. It’s one thing to read and understand the meaning of scripture. It’s quite another to take that knowledge and actually apply it to my life. But to do that, I first need to seek out His truths and keep them close to my heart so the next time I’m searching for Christ’s wisdom, I won’t have to look too far.
His discerning counsel will be found right where it belongs – imprinted on my heart.
“Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you….Teach them to your children.” Deuteronomy 11:18-19a (MSG)
