Oh, no!! The door handle where I generally hang my special bag of rings was empty! But I had just seen it there, hadn’t I? Not having organizational skills as a character trait, if I don’t keep an item in the same place, it’s lost. Now it was time to take the rings to the jeweler and have them all checked, yet they were not in their “normal” place. They were very valuable, and some were irreplaceable! Like the woman in Luke 15:8, 9, I searched every room over and over for many days. Finally, in desperation, I looked outside at the “Farm Use” truck. We often threw garbage bags there, until one of us got so tired of looking at it–or it got so full–that we would take it to the dump. It was very full, which meant bags of foul-smelling garbage. Yet it was the only place left that might hold a bag full of rings.

Pushed to the limit, I took out the first bag, shifting everything to a new bag as I opened and checked each and every smelly hoard of trash. Bag after bag, hour after hour. By the end of several hours I was down to the last two bags, and I could clearly see the bottom of the truck bed, itself messy, dirty, and littered. Now one bag. I was too discouraged to speak, but what’s one bag after a truck full? What’s ten minutes after days, and hours? And yes, there inside the last bag, (Murphy’s Law), I saw the large zip-lock bag full of rings, unharmed, waiting to be carried to the dump! Whether they fell in accidentally, or some little fingers helped them, I’ll never know, but again, like the woman above, I could have held a party!

Do you realize that we are to be as diligent about seeking God’s righteousness as we are treasures that we own that are physical? Legends about Treasure Maps, buried treasure, or hidden treasure intrigue us, and we probably all know people who have dug for days, months or years because it was always told how “grandpa kept his money in a jar under the apple tree!” Yet the Bible tells us in Colossians 2:1-3 that God Himself is the essence of ALL treasure of wisdom and knowledge! Do we search for Him with that in mind, or go about our daily lives, busy with mundane situations that will have no impact on eternity?

When was the last time you were hungry or thirsty? In this summer heat, you mow, trim, use the weed eater, pick garden vegetables, and sweat! Do you go into the house, straight to the frig, and grab a bottle of something cold to drink? You bet! Yet we are to be so hungry and thirsty to be righteous before our wonderful God that He is our first thought when we wake, when we rise, when we go to bed (Deut. 11:15), and we are to teach our children this concept. If we wake in the night, we should turn to prayer during the period of wakefulness (Satan will soon stop waking us!) It is a discipline that we make consciously, just as forcing ourselves into a routine of exercise or eating healthy foods! How easy it is to “fall off the wagon!” We miss a day of Bible study because there is a letter we must write, or a job that has to be done asap! We will get to it this evening; but do we? Not usually, because we get distracted, busy, and then tired.

More than likely, that’s why the Psalmist said “My voice you shall hear in the morning, O Lord!” (Psalm 5:3). We are fresh, we are ready to think, and the world has not yet intruded. Let us discipline ourselves to seek God before we seek the computer, the laundry, the breakfast for the kids–whoa! That might mean getting up earlier!

That’s what you do when you’re hungering and thirsting.

Father, teach us how to love You the way You want to be loved! Please–give us the strength while it is still today to seek You with all (ALL) our heart, mind, soul, and spirit, as if we understand that You are our greatest Treasure! Amen.