Seek and Hide

“One, two, three….ready or not, here I come!”  I have heard these excited words many times over the years in my home.  Pairs of feet scrambling to find the best hiding place before the counting was completed. The squeals and laughter that would ensue after a hiding place had been found by the seeker.  The game of hide-and-seek has been a favorite for children of all ages, all over the world!

As I sit here over the holiday weekend listening to my children (even the teenagers!) and my nephews play hide and seek, I begin to ponder the spiritual connotations of this game. 

HIDE

I think back on all of those years that I thought  I was hiding my sin from the Lord. It was a picture of the “walking dead” as I went about my own way in life. Every choice I made oozed with self-centeredness. It wasn’t until after I left for college, halfway across the country, that I finally responded to the Gospel. I could no longer live vicariously through my parents' relationship with Jesus; I alone needed to make the choice for salvation. I responded to a salvation message at a service during the first few weeks of my freshman year at the college I was attending. I jumped out of the grave that I had been living in that night, and experienced true freedom that comes by being made alive in Christ.  I bet you are thinking back on your own salvation story!

SEEK

Yet all the while that I was dead in my sin, Jesus never stopped looking for me. The lost parables that Jesus taught, found in Luke 15, describe exactly how He has never stopped looking for those who are lost:

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.  Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home…” Luke 15:4-6 (NIV)

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ Luke 15:8-9 (NIV)

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” Luke 15:22-24 (NIV)

But as a mature Christian, I find that I want to rename this game to seek and hide.  Our relationship with the Lord grows infinitely because we seek Him. In prayer, in worship, and in studying the word.  Jeremiah 29:13 promises that “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  The psalmist writes, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek His presence continually!”(Psalm 105:4) 

As we seek the Lord, we are hiding ourselves in Him. David declares in Psalm 32:7 that “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance” and “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,” in Psalm 17:8.  Paul reminds the Colossian believers, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”  Seeking and hiding is a concurrent process.

I want you to take a moment and assess how well you are “seeking and hiding” in your spiritual life.  Maybe you’ll find that there is some work to do. Remember that our spiritual walk is a journey and not a sprint!

As we enter the month of December tomorrow, would you join me in a yearly tradition? Let’s read through the Gospel of Luke by reading one chapter per day starting on December 1st and ending on December 24th with chapter 24. This is a beautiful way to spend the season seeking the Savior and hiding yourself in Him.

Can’t wait to read along with you!