FLASHING NEON ARROWS

Can God be found by everyone? That depends on what a person's looking for, on the motives of the heart, on what one wants to do with God when and if he is found. The second chapter of Matthew describes how on one hand God couldn't be missed, and on the other he just couldn't be found. It is still the same today. Some would say, "Look! You can't miss him -- he is RIGHT HERE!" while others undertake a Dragnet-style manhunt and come up with devastation that is worse than nothing:

And [King Herod] sent [the eastern scholars] to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. (verses 8-9)

The star was like a beacon to those scholars; they couldn't miss the spot! But we know what happened when Herod tried to find the same child the scholars couldn't miss:

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region . . . (verse 16)

Maybe to you and me it seems like there are flashing neon arrows hanging over the place where Jesus is, but some of our loved ones seem to have searched relentlessly and come up with worse than nothing. When you encounter someone who "just can't find Jesus," encourage that person to carefully examine his or her motives, and to pray for honesty of deepest soul before God, who has issued an unconditional promise to all of humanity that, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13