I had been playing for a while now and my iron pickaxe was about worn out. This old iron armor had seen its better days and I was ready to do some enchanting. There was only one problem, I had no diamonds. I had done a lot of mining and searching but had not found my first diamond yet. I was beginning to think I never would!
I decided that I was going to find a hole to jump in and stay there until I had some diamonds to bring home. I geared up and headed out west looking for the perfect hole. After a little exploring, I found the perfect one and my diamond adventure began.
It was a dark and scary cave full of skeletons, zombies, creepers, and spiders but I eventually made my way further down into it to where I was certain I would find my diamonds. I was down to my last few torches when I spotted what I had been searching for. Just up ahead was the most beautiful site to see. Diamonds! But there was a problem. My inventory was full.
How could I let this happen? While looking for the diamonds I had been collecting all of the other resources as well. I finally found exactly what I had been searching for and had no way of getting them back without giving something up. This would be a tough decision, but I knew I had to give something up in order to keep these diamonds. I realized that I had some gravel in my inventory that I could get rid of and made room for these diamonds. I grabbed them and made my way back home. It was a successful adventure.
Searching For The Good Stuff
There are some things in life that we need to search for. There is a whole chapter in the Bible (Luke 15) about people searching for things that were precious to them. One guy, after losing one of his sheep, goes searching for it and doesn’t stop until he finds it. Then, a lady who has lost a coin searches her entire house until she finds it. Both of these dropped everything else to make sure they were able to find what they were searching for.
Sometimes we lose something like these two did and have to spend time looking for it. If we are looking for something that is important to us, we will search even harder until we find it.
Giving Up The Bad Stuff
When we find what we are looking for, it sometimes means we have to give up certain things. There is another man in Matthew 19 who finds what he has been searching for. He gets to talk to Jesus and ask Him how to have eternal life. When Jesus tells him it requires sacrifice (giving certain things up) he doesn’t like that and walks away.
We have to be willing to give up some things when we find what we are looking for. Ephesians 4:22 says to “put off your old self” which is another way of saying to give up or stop doing things that were bad. In verse 24 we are told to “put on the new self” which is what we find when we search the Bible for who we are supposed to be.
What Are You Searching For
We are all searching for something. You might be searching for new friends, a new video game to play, or maybe you are searching for something different. If you are like the guy in Matthew 19, you might be searching for eternal life. If you study the Bible you will find exactly what you are looking for and just like when I found those diamonds, it might mean that we have to give up something else to make room for it in our lives. Matthew 6:24 tells us that we cannot serve God and everything else.
The Final Block
Our salvation is something that we should be always be searching for. It is also something that we should be willing to give anything up for in order to have it. It is the most valuable thing we will ever have. Search your Bible just like the people in Luke 15 searched for what they were looking for. If it means you have to give something up, it will be worth it. I promise you.
Questions:
- Have you ever lost something important to you? How long did you search for it?
- Is salvation something you are looking for now? If so, what passages are you looking at?
- Read Luke 15 and think about what each person lost and how important it was for them to find it. How much do we search for what is important to us?
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