Search On - Prov 8:17
December 24, 2023
search on… 3.5 billion Google searches daily…
1. News - Israel / Hamas war
2. Person - Damar Hamlin
3. Movie - Barbie
4. Song - Yoasobi’s Idol
5. Recipe - Bibimbap
6. Sports Teams - Inter Miami CF
57% of Americans say they wonder how they can find more meaning and purpose in life monthly. 42% say they ask that question daily or weekly. 23% say they never ask that question. 69% say they find the most meaning in family. 34% in career. 23% in money. 20% in their faith. 19% in friends. 19% in hobbies. —Lifeway Research / Pew Research
search for meaning and purpose not a new question… only one place to find it…
Deut 4:29… “search for the Lord… find Him when you seek with all your heart…”
1Chron 16:10-11… “let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice… seek Him always…”
2Chron 31:21… “Hezekiah sought His God wholeheartedly… and he prospered…”
Psa 7:1… “I seek refuge in You… save me and rescue me…”
Psa 9:10… “Lord, you have never abandoned those who seek You…”
Psa 18:2… “the Lord is my Rock, fortress, deliverer… where I seek refuge…”
Psa 24:5-6… “receive blessings… such is the generation of those who seek Him…”
Psa 34:10… “those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing…”
Psa 119:2… “blessed, joyful, happy are those who seek Him with all their heart…”
Prov 8:17… “I love those who love me… those who search for Me find Me…
Jer 10:21… “they don’t seek the Lord… therefore, they have not prospered…”
Amos 5:4… “seek Me and you shall live (live prosperously, restored to health)…”
Matt 6:33… “seek first Kingdom of God, His righteousness… all things provided…”
Matt 7:7… “ask, it will be given… seek, you will find… knock, it will be opened…”
Heb 11:6… “He rewards those who seek Him…”
interesting… those 1,277,500,000,000 searches haven’t changed us much… what would life be like if we did 3.5 billion searches for Jesus daily…
google says the earth is 4.5 billion years old… says humans have been around for 300,000 years… bible says Genesis 1 dates back around 6000 years…
Gen 1… “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… God created the light, the sky, the water, the land, vegetation, food, living creatures, wildlife… let us make man in Our own image… so God created them male and female…”
search for purpose going on entire time thru health, behavior, idolatry, politics…
Gen 3… “did God really say… when you eat it, you will be like God…”
Exo 19-20… “all God has spoken we can do… and God spoke these words…”
Exo 32… “make us gods who will go before us… and they made a golden calf…”
1Sam 8:6… “give us a king to judge us…”
on and on it went… entire OT is story of people looking for purpose and meaning when they already had it… it was found in their relationship with God…
Gen 12:1-3… “I will make you a great nation… bless you and make your name great…”
Exo 19:5-6… “you will be my treasured possession… a holy nation…”
Deut 7:6… “you are a people holy to the Lord… God has chosen you…”
Deut 32:10… “He found him… guarded him… kept him as the apple of His eye…”
2Sam 7:23-24… “God came to redeem a people… established to be His forever…”
Psa 17:8… “guard me… keep me as the apple of Your eye…”
Psa 147:11… “the Lord takes pleasure… in those who hope in His unfailing love…”
Zeph 3:17… “I rejoice over you… I love you… I delight in you with singing…”
I suspect, not much has changed… still searching for it… whatever it is… search goes on in mostly the wrong places… strange places… scary places… happy places… in bottles, diets, money, education, relationships, hobbies… google it…
1. How do I heal (3.67 billion) - positive visualization, soothing music, eat healthy…
2. How do I find hope (2.92b) - limit bad news, focus on future, talk to hopeful people…
3. What’s my purpose (6.33b) - consists of the central motivating aims of life…
4. How can I like myself (2.97b) - do something for you, pamper, go on date with you…
celebrity advice, life hacks, countless tips for everything… some might be worth a try, but which ones… and if they worked… wouldn’t we stop looking… is there any good news in all of this… yep, God’s not good at hide and seek…
Psa 139:7-10… “where I can go to escape… where can I flee from your presence…”
Isa 62:12… “the redeemed of the Lord… they shall be called, Sought Out…”
Jer 31:3… “the Lord appeared… with unfailing love I have drawn you to Myself…”
Eze 34:11… “I Myself will search for my sheep and seek them out…”
Luke 15:4-6… “lost sheep… leave the 99 and go after the one until He finds it…”
Luke 19:10… “the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost…”
John 6:44… “no man can come unless the Father who sent Me draws them…”
God wanted so badly to be found He left heaven… wanted so badly to be found He became like us so we could understand Him… wanted so badly to be found that He served, suffered, and died so we could be redeemed from an empty way of life…
Mark 10:45… “Son came not to be served, but to serve… give His life as ransom…”
Luke 24:45-47… “Messiah will suffer… rise from dead… forgiveness of sins in His name…”
John 6:22-59… “I am the One who comes down from heaven and gives life…”
Phil 2:5-11… “emptied Himself… taking on likeness of humanity… came as man…”
Heb 2:17-18… “in every respect like us… faithful High Priest… take away sins…”
1Pet 1:18-19… “redeemed from empty life, not with gold… but precious blood of Christ…”
stop hiding… doesn’t do any good anyway…
Jer 23:24… “can a man hide himself so I do not see him… declares the Lord…”
Heb 4:13… “no creature is hidden from His sight… all things are open to Him…”
our search for rest… love without limits… forgiveness freely given… for hope, joy and peace… for family… mercy and grace… our search for purpose and meaning is over… Christmas whispers the simple answer to it all… Jesus… pray…
Matt 11:28… “come to Me all who are weary… and I will give you rest…”
John 15:12-13… “love each other as I have loved you…”
Rom 5:12-21… “greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness…”
Rom 15:13… “God of hope… fill you with joy and peace… as you believe…”
Eph 2:19-22… “you are no longer strangers… you are members of God’s family…”
Heb 4:16… “come boldly to throne of grace… receive mercy and grace to help…”
2Cor 11:3… “serpent deceived… minds led astray from the simplicity in Christ…”