Looking or Seeing?

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 1 John 1:1

How often do husbands, ask their wife where something has been put, and when told, they still can’t put their hands on it? Has it been moved? No, because invariably the wife, usually with a sigh, will go directly to the place, and without looking, pick up the thing which the man ‘looked for’ and didn’t see. It’s almost embarrassing for the man, and a point scored for the wife.

Why is the missing item not noticed the first time? It is safe to say that the man looked, but didn’t see because he didn’t search closely. The apostle John right at the start of this short letter wants to set the record straight. He makes the point that the early apostles listened to, and saw Jesus with their own eyes, and not only that, to emphasise the point he goes on to say, “we have looked”. There could be no doubt for the skeptics or unbelievers here, because these early disciples were absolutely certain that they had found the long looked for Messiah. They were so sure of it that almost every one of the early disciples died speaking this truth. They could not deny what they had seen and looked at!

The obvious lesson for us today is clear. When we look for God’s will, or read the Scriptures, how much goes in and stays in our minds? How diligently do we look for His direction? The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah says it well when he records: You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13