What You're Looking For Makes All The Difference In Life

Have you been watching the reaction to the aborted airline bombing that happened on Christmas Day? There's been one government official after another commenting on the event, often giving conflicting messages to the increasingly anxious public. First, the system worked...then it was called a systemic failure. Then, there was no smoking gun evidence of an imminent terrorist act (although there was a smoldering fuse within the airplane fuselage as the passengers subdued the subject, or suspect, or whatever he is called on this morning's news programs). Then the declaration was made that there was more than enough intelligence information for someone to reasonably interpret and predict what was going to take place. If only they had connected the dots, so the expression goes.
Connecting the dots is easier if you know what you're looking for. At least it was for me when I was a kid. I needed to see the picture before the dots were connected. I wanted to know what I was looking for so I would know what it looked like when I saw it completed. It seems to me that the confusing and chaotic responses to this particular terrorist threat indicate that we are often too concerned with looking for a what instead of a who. So it appears that the security people are going to be even more focused on looking for bombs instead of bombers. It makes a huge difference whether you're looking for a who instead of a what!
What do you seek? It's the first question that Jesus asks in the gospel of John. He asks this of people who are searching for something...or someone. The question reveals that God knows our hearts. He knows the object of our search in life. We are looking for something to worship. Sometimes we are searching for the fruits of our material world. The things we think we have security in possessing always wind up possessing us. Sometimes that something is someone. We often worship our loved ones, our American Idols, sports heroes (or zeroes), or even ourselves. Rarely do we worship God as a person. But the good news is that we can. And when we do, life begins to seem a little more focused and a lot more clearer. It's like connecting the dots. The personal relationship that God calls us into is often a transformation that takes awhile. Although we can say we follow Jesus, we often do not know Him. We know a lot about Him. God's question simplifies the search: What do you seek? Maybe you're worried about terrorist attacks or financial disasters. Maybe you don't know exactly what it is you're looking for this year. But the restlessness and anxieties and worries of this world let's you know you haven't found it yet. So what do you do? Keep looking and worrying? Not according to Jesus. He knows we are frustrated in our search for the what. So He tells us about the Who.
"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:31-33)
When we find the King...the Kingdom comes with Him. The what, or things, we are chasing and desperately seeking have no value unless we find the King. Our life will be as big a dud as a bomb that doesn't go off...a huge dud...but a dud just the same. We'll find that our life has fizzled out after being focused on the wrong things. We will have been futile in living out our purpose...to worship God and God alone. Only when we find Jesus, the God-man, can we begin to have our dots connected. Only then can be begin to have our picture completed, rightly reflecting the restored image of the Living God.
What you're looking for makes all the difference in life when you're looking for Life!