Searching For Completeness

Guilty as charged. No alibi, no justification, no weak excuses. I admit it. I am guilty of something that I don't even know the name of. It could be possessiveness, but I just thought of giving it away. It could be stinginess, but it was being shared at the time my guilt was manifested. So I'll describe it and you tell me what it's called. A lid. A simple round lid for a turkey fryer. But it was missing when I went to put the set back into storage. I began the search. Then it happened. My facial expression changed and people knew I was upset. I wasn't yelling and I didn't accuse anyone, but I was upset and it showed. My wife tells me that I can't hide my emotions. I'm not sure I can. I have one of those faces, and it's not a poker face. You see me, you read me. But the reason I was upset was because with the lid missing the set is incomplete. And based on that simple fact, I have placed value on that lid. You may say, "it's only a lid" and you would be right, but I think there's more to it. Let me explain. I have an antique Monopoly set. I don't know how old it is, but the box says "Patent Pending." The money is very basic, the Community Chest and Chance cards have no drawings of the old guy, and the houses and hotels are wooden. The big problem is that somewhere along the line I lost the board. How much less is that set without it? I think the difference is night and day. I don't think there's any considerable value to an incomplete set. So the lid to the turkey fryer is important to me in that it completes the set. Therefore, I surmise, the lid is as valuable as the entire set. Hence, my desperate search for it. We've often heard the phrase, "Is that all there is?" Its companion is "There has to be more." I think these phrases apply across a broad spectrum. Take for instance your own existence. How often do you deem your live less valuable because of incompleteness? You wonder if you are accomplishing all that you are supposed to, but you really wonder what you are here for. Rick Warren wrote an excellent book "The Purpose Driven Life" that illustrates the various purposes our lives are designed to fulfill. While I'm not plugging his book, it is a good read and I suggest you read it if you haven't. You may soon realize that there really is more. And you have a good shot at completeness. Understand this, God places value on a complete set also. And He considers you a part of His set. Three parables deal with the search for completeness. The shepherd searching for the one sheep missing from the fold, the woman searching for her tenth silver coin, and the father waiting for the return of his prodigal son. The fold was incomplete, the silver coin collection was incomplete, and the father's family was incomplete. You are important to God. So much so that He sent His son, Jesus, to die for your sins and enable you to be a part of the family again. This too is a great story and worthy of reading and rereading. Consider the verses that follow: For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:26-29 KJV) Put another way: And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: (Colossians 2:10 KJV) What a nice feeling, being complete. Not just so that you "are all there" but because there is intrinsic value to being a part of something bigger than yourself. So even if you feel you're just a part of the turkey frying set you are as valuable as the entire set. Now put a lid on it and get involved.