The God of Search

I've started to think through the Bible from the perspective of "search". Search is a word we currently use after strange words like Google, Bing and Wikipedia. It has become, and maybe always has been, the most important activity for humanity.

This summer I read a fascinating report by McKinsey & CO on "The Social Economy" . The report proves that one of the most significant areas of potential productivity improvement for any person is in the time wasted searching for information that they know they possess but cannot find.

This inspired me to to take some time to improve my "search" ability. So I took the Power Searching With Google course. After learning just how vast and fast the possibilities of search are currently, I have come to believe that "search" skills have replaced the 3 R's: Writing, Reading and 'Rithmatic. With adequate search skills you can learn the 3 R's and almost anything that a library can contain. If you can talk, you can search .

All this searching, and it's importance to humanity, started me thinking about what all of this has to do with God. Can we find "search" in the Bible?

Well, I've learned to think of a search query as a short statement of desire. Usually, if I search for the term "eggnog" it's because I want to drink eggnog, or buy it, or figure out how to make it. I want eggnog in some way or I wouldn't search for it. My search query is a statement of my desire.

This principle is proved by Google Trends where you can see that desire for eggnog peaks once a year. People want eggnog, but only during one month of the year. That is when they search for it:

If search is an expression of desire, then the first search was when God said, "Let there be light". More importantly God "searched" when he said, "Let Us make mankind in our image." God wanted to share community with others so he uttered statements of desire. Unlike us, God's desires carry the power of their fulfillment in their utterance, whether it be for light or that Lazarus would "come forth".

Yet God searches primarily for those who don't deserve to be found. God searched for Adam in his sin when he found him in God's garden. He searched for Cain's repentance when he asked "Where is Abel your brother?" God searches for sinners like Noah, Abram, Isaac and Jacob.

God searched for Moses in the wilderness and a covenant people in slavery. He searched for David in the sheepfold. Peter at his fishing nets and a woman by a well in Samaria. God searched for Saul in his zealotry and a thief in his hour of condemnation. Jesus, the God man said his purpose of his coming was to search, and save the lost. He told stories about lost sheep, coins and sons to make his point.

Our God is a God of search. God is searching for those who are lost. If I claim to be one who knows God, I must care about "search". If my desires become God's desires, then I will improve my skill in searching for those who, like me, don't deserve to be found.

cross posted at www.ourcru.org