Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Apostle Tom <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:21:26 -0600
To: <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Morning Manna (Jan. 22); BP: Lk. 15:8-10; RBTTY: Mt. 14:22-36; Ex.
January 22 “Seeking”
“Either what woman, having 10 pieces of silver, if she loses one piece, does not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently ‘till she finds it?”
Luke 15:8
It rests in the very center of God’s heart and is fueled by love.
“Seeking.”
The mere mention of this word conjures up the picture of someone in pursuit of something. It’s not the image of someone, when asked what they’re looking for, who says “Oh, I don’t know, but I’ll know when I find it.”
No, today’s Manna—coupled with the other two stories in Lk. 15—reveals that there is a “purpose” or intentionality in the “seeking.” The shepherd was looking “for the lost sheep” (vv.4). The widow was looking “for the lost coin.” The father, though not actively searching for his prodigal son, was still yearning for the boy’s return, leaving his love to pursue the rebellious lad wherever he might be.
Yes, the word “seeking” connotes “purpose, passion and perseverance.” Even though the shepherd had 99 sheep safely in the fold, he still “left the 99 in the makeshift sheepfold in the wilderness” (v.4) and didn’t rest until “he found that which was lost” (v.5). Glory! Is not this a picture of our “Seeking Savior” in His mission of “seeking to save that which was lost” (Lk. 19:10)?
Assuredly it is. Hallelujah!! Likewise, the widow “lighted a candle, grabbed a room and began to sweep the house” in search of her lost coin. And, we should notice she “searched diligently (Grk. ‘epimelo’—‘with great care or concern, unwaveringly, thoroughly, carefully, etc.’).” Hers was no casual, carefree search; neither was it a hands-off ocular inspection. A thousand times no!!
No, hers was a pull out the couch. . .look under the bed. . .search behind the refrigerator. . .passionate search for “that which was lost.” That single, silver coin was the only thing that stood between her and starvation or possible eviction. She had to have the coin to survive, if you will; thus, she was not going to rest until she found it—even as the Heavenly Father does not rest in His pursuit of those who are lost to Him.
Although the story of “The Prodigal Son and Rejoicing Father” (vv.11-24) puts a different spin on the word “seeking,” it’s still there. The son left “for a far country” (v.13), but the father’s love was in hot pursuit.
Even while the rebellious son was busy spending all of his inheritance on “wine, women and song,” the father’s love quietly whispered to him, “Come home, my son, come home.” It was this same love that pricked the boy’s mind and memories that day as he sat in the pig sty, remembering what he’d lost in his rebellion—and helped him to “come to himself, arise and go home” (vv.16-20a). And, dear Pilgrim, the Heavenly Father’s “seeking love” is still looking for “lost sheep, lost coins and lost lads.” May we seek an opportunity to share that with someone else today so they’ll move from being “lost in sin and separation” (Eph. 2:12) to being “found in God’s love.”
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