I've searched for keys, tools, paperwork, and so many other things in my life that I'm convinced it's part of who I am as a person. It's not that the items ceased to exist (though many haven't been found); rather it's that their existence isn't with me. Jesus talks about us being lost and like the sheep who has wandered away he comes to find us and bring us back to where we belong. Our existence hasn't changed but we have changed. The sheep who wandered away still remained a sheep. My tools, paperwork and keys remained keys. With the Christian the metaphor is the same. We can and do wander away for a myriad of reasons and when we return we are still a fallen creation of a loving God who died to save us from eternally being lost. Unlike my tools, keys and paperwork! Today in this crazy world we are living in there is the almost constant desire to find out who we are rather than who's we are. It's funny that we search for that which leads us away from God rather than to Him. We seek who we are with those around us, the larger world and even in the church longing to find ourselves. Since we are lost it makes no sense to seek ourselves. All we will find is a lost soul in need of a loving Savior.
This search ongoing in the Christian's life is driven by a need for definition. We seek to have a defined idea of what we are supposed to be. Rather than understanding that we are God's creation created for his purpose, we seek to understand how we fit in with social media, peers, and the world around us. In order to use this process we are required to disregard what God says. When we do this we remain just as lost as we were when we first began searching. Insanity has been defined as "doing the same thing expecting a different result. Getting the cart before the horse doesn't do us any good. Putting the equation in reverse perspective helps us to move away from self and back to seeing us as God sees us. When we've returned to that place of perfect peace where we are defined by God we are home. It doesn't take much effort to say, I am His and that's all I need to know. It takes away every part of us to try and find ourselves. "I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see." Do you believe that? We can only believe that if we've been changed from searching to find ourselves to being content to be His child.
The Bible tells us that we who are Christian have been made a new creation. Just what is that? What does it mean to be a new creation and why is that important to God. I like to read the 139th Psalm where God tells me that he knew me before I was conceived in my mother's womb. Then I fast forward to Revelation where God tells me that when I overcome the world and enter into his presence I will be given a white robe and a new name! Wow! I like to think that my new name is the same name that he had for me before I was in my mother's womb. Just what it is remains unknown to me while I am here on earth. My identity began in God and ends in God. Yours does as well. We have a beginning and an end both of which lead us to the loving God who created us. The Psalm also says that he knew (past tense) everything that we would think, say and do every day of our lives. Wow! My soul yearns to be with Jesus and one day will be with him. My soul knows Jesus and he knows me now in spite of who I tried to be before knowing Him. There is a search deep inside of every one of us to find out who we are. The answer comes when we hear that knock on the door, open the door and invite Jesus in. It's in Him that we have our identity. Why search any longer. Don't give in to the pressure of the world. Choose Whom you know and you'll have all you need. Remember that it's always your choice.
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