Have you ever thought you lost something that was staring you in the face the whole time? I just spent the better part of a day looking for a book I had just put down. When I put it down I consciously thought, I will never lose it here, this is a safe spot.

Famous last words when you are going from room to room, upending every safe spot you can think of, even the most obscure of spots, still to be thwarted by this missing book that has now become the number one priority in your life. You can laugh in retrospect; however these incidents seem to be happening in ever increasing numbers… I’ve just lost the coffee I was drinking while writing this! Am I losing my marbles?

I obviously forgot where I put the book, and in final defeat, scratching my head, I wander back into the initial room I began in, and there, in the middle of the desk, staring at me at a jaunty angle, is said book. You can imagine the look on my face, a cross between sheer boiling frustration and utter joy. I am sure you can recall a time when you also have felt this way after finding a previously lost item!

Yes, we have all been there!

What made me not see it the first time? Why was I blind to the obvious? My mind had so many things happening in it that the item right in front of me became lost. That most important item that was to get me through my day. I wasted a day looking for it because my mind was full of all the things I had jammed into it, some quite useless, and I could not see that it was right in front of me.

Although this seems like a joking matter, a very similar attitude and behaviour are described in the Bible by Jesus when speaking about the reception he was given by many of the people of his time. He spoke in parables for the very reason that they couldn’t see what’s in front of them unless they stopped to look. If we don’t stop and look at Jesus’ words, aren’t we the same? We keep obscuring from our vision and hearing, the one thing that can help us, God’s Bible:

“In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’” (Matthew 13:14-15, NIV) 

And no, I never did find my coffee cup. But I didn’t mind; I found my book – the Bible.