Looking for Sea Glass

If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. 1 Chronicles 28:9

We live on a lake and whenever we’re on the stony shore, my wife finds pieces of sea glass, which she enjoys collecting. This sea glass, unfortunately, is a product of people littering their glass bottles in the lake, but time, rocks, and waves break down the sharp edges, and the result is something that is actually quite pretty. My wife finds a lot of this sea glass – we have jars full of it – while I find very little. Why is that? I probably spend more time on and near the shore of our lake, yet she finds hundreds of pieces to my very few. The simple reason she finds so much more is that she looks for it, while I do not. The same amount of sea glass is present for both of us, but my wife expends time and energy seeking it and so, she finds it. I don’t look and so, I don’t find.

It’s not a perfect analogy, but the same principle is true with God. God is always there and those who look for him find him. This is one of the great promises of the Bible which is repeated in today’s passage. In the story, as King David passed on his life wisdom to his son, he reminded Solomon of his responsibility in seeking God. Solomon, David said, could have two very different lives. He could seek God, finding him, or he could ignore God, living a life of pursuing self. David knew the blessed life of seeking God and he knew the misery of seeking self and so, he encouraged his son to seek God.

We face the same choice. God is there and desires that we seek him. If we do, we will find a life of joy and peace. If we refuse to seek him and instead, seek a life of self, we will eventually make ourselves miserable. Our way is disaster. God’s way is life. God is always present. If we seek him, just like my wife and the sea glass, we will find him.