“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:13
Why do idols exist? Here are two reasons:
Our attraction to God. Every human being is made in the image of God. That’s true of the most messed up, dysfunctional, twisted person you can think of. It is also true of you. That’s why wherever you go, you will find that human beings are engaged in some kind of spiritual search. It cannot be stamped out. Communism tried to eliminate religion, and it was a total failure. There is a God-shaped hole at the centre of every life that only God can fill.
Our avoidance of God. If you were to study the religions of the world, you would conclude that some kind of spiritual search is going on. But you would also be struck by the fact that different religions lead us in many different directions. Why is that? Because, alongside our deep attraction to God, human beings are experts at avoiding God.
Back in the Garden of Eden, God came to Adam, who was hiding: “Where are you, [Adam]?” (Gen. 3:9). Why doesn’t Adam want to come out and walk with God? Because he knows he has sinned. When you know that you have sinned against God, you won’t want God showing up. And if He does, your first instinct is to hide.
We are drawn to seek after God, but at the same time we hide from Him. This is the ultimate game of “hide and seek,” and we won’t make much progress unless God comes and seeks after us. And that is precisely what He has done in Jesus Christ.
Do you find yourself sometimes seeking God and sometimes hiding from Him?
