Digging for Truth

When Jesus taught through parables, one of the most common phrases He ended with was, “Let those with ears hear.” What he meant was this: For those willing to dig, there is buried treasure here. But for those who only look for dirt, look no further; the dirt is right there on top. You will miss the treasure, but that is your choice.

We are expected to seek God. He has already done His part in three ways: by sending His son to show to us the Father, by providing us with the supernatural library we call the Bible, and by providing the evidence of His fingerprints in the natural world around us. We are expected to examine the evidence and act upon it.

Now, when someone reads the Bible looking for truth, it will be found, although not always in our preferred time frame. But if someone reads it looking for excuses so they can walk away, those can be found too. God could have provided video of Jesus working miracles and being resurrected from the tomb, but He chose to reach us in ways which allow doubt. This is why Christianity is called a "faith”. We are given enough evidence to find truth and then the Holy Spirit will speak to our hearts, supernaturally confirming what we have found in the evidence. Ultimately, as C.S. Lewis said, there will always have to be a “leap of faith.”

The Bible can almost seem like a treasure map with clues which have to be put together, but we need have no fear of missing the truth. No one who is sincerely looking for truth will be turned away. God created us so we can have an eternal relationship with Him; we don’t have to worry that He’s playing hard to get or playing tricks on us.

He has…set eternity in the human heart… (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This means He has given us an instinctive knowledge of Himself, a certain belief that there is something beyond ourselves.

Psalm 9:10 tells us, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” That is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I depend on its truth. He has never forsaken those who seek Him. That means for me to find Him, all I have to do is…seek Him. That’s my part in all this.

Psalm 86:5—“You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.” To all who call… It doesn’t get any easier than that. I can choose to be one of the all who call to him. And when I do, He is forgiving and good.

In Jeremiah 29:13, God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” This takes things a step further. We can’t be playing games with God. We have to be ready to stop living by our own rules, to change direction, to live in His truth and find healing for our lives. When we are serious about that, God shows up.

"God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God." (Psalm 53:2)

In the words of Jesus: “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7-8, New Living Translation)

"…devote your heart and soul to seeking the LORD your God." (1 Chronicles 22:19)

"God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." (Acts 17:27)

"The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him…" (Lamentations 3:25)

All this said, once we find Him, the seeking can never stop. We are to continue seeking Him all our lives as He allows us deeper into Himself and grows us into maturity.

All Scripture references are from the NIV except where noted.