Ezekiel 34:16

Marshall Jenkins Ezekiel 34:16

I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak:

No matter how lonely or unworthy you may feel, someone seeks you and rejoices to find you.

In this verse, the Seeker wants who you are. This Seeker prizes you and guards you as a shepherd a sheep of his flock. This Seeker welcomes you and rejoices over you as a parent does a child. We do not know this Seeker fully yet. We only know with certainty this Seeker's love.

Although often mysterious, this Seeker is with you always and sees you as one "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14), as "the beloved, with whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). This Seeker sends others with the message that you are sought and loved.

Moreover, this Seeker strives to convince you that you are loved. This takes time, perhaps an eternity. For if you see yourself as the sum of what you have, then you won't believe you have enough to be loved. If you see yourself as the sum of your accomplishments, then you won't believe you have done enough to be loved. If you see yourself as the sum of your knowledge, you won't know enough to be loved.

So you resist the news, the very news you most desire to hear and believe. Those who want you to believe you are what you have, achieve, or know, clamor about you. The One who seeks you because of who you are speaks in a still, small voice.

The Seeker is God and loves you infinitely.

Do you believe you are who God thinks you are?

Lord, Seeker of my heart, show me who I am to you that I may resist finding my worth in anything less than your love. Amen.