Searching for the Right Thing

Working at the bookstore, one of my responsibilities is to stock the few music CDs we carry. Each week the new list of CDs and the planogram for the fixture appears on our company’s intranet. Since the music stepladder is my responsibility, it is also my responsibility to obtain a copy of my instructions. The other day I was in the back of the store working on another project, and I asked my coworker if she would find the sheet for me and print it. I told her exactly what to type in the search box so she could find what I needed. It’s called “Book Department Music Stepladder.”

Unfortunately, I must tell you my patience was tried as this coworker typed in EVERYTHING but what I told her. Searching for “Music Stepladder” returns nothing. Searching for “Book Music Stepladder” also returns nothing. On and on this went, and as slow as the computer was, it probably wasted ten minutes of my time. I couldn’t help but think, “I could have already put the music out now if she had just typed in exactly what I said.”

I think – no, I know – sometimes as Christians, we try shortcuts. We want to do things our way. Sometimes it’s out of stubbornness; sometimes it’s out of curiosity. And we always want to think what we are doing is right. We’ll justify our actions. We let our emotions take over. We want to be in charge. There are also times that things in the Bible may not make sense to us, so we’ll question it. I’m reminded of Naaman, who was told to dip in the Jordan River seven times to be cleansed of his leprosy (I Kings 5). “What did water have to do with it?” we might ask. “Or, how about if he just dipped six times? Isn’t that good enough?”

Just as I’m head of the “music department” and I know how to find my planogram, Jesus is the head of the church…and He knows how to find heaven. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (NKJV) Let us always remember that when it comes to things of a spiritual nature, God is the one who should always be in control. We should always look to the Bible for examples. Above all, we should be people of faith.

How’s your search for heaven going? Are you trying to type in worldly things instead?