Words cannot express how glad I am that you are here! I say this because my passion in life is helping people connect with our God who loves them infinitely. YOU are perfectly and endlessly loved by God and He wants for you to receive this love and to know Him! The words “What do you seek?” are the first words spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of John. Leading up to this important encounter, we’re told that John the Baptist was standing by the river with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and they decided to follow Jesus. I’d say this was a good choice! We’re then told that as they were following Jesus, that He turned around, saw them, and He then asked, “What do you seek?” At this point I want for you to take note of two things: The first is that they were walking behind Jesus, following Him, and He turned around to speak to them. The fact that He turned around means that even while they followed behind, He knew precisely where they were. God knows precisely where you are right now too! The second thing that I want for you to take note of is that He goes straight past the question “What do you want,” not even asking it, because Jesus wants to get to the COR (latin for Heart) of things, He desperately wants for us to go deeper! Not only does Jesus’ question “what do you seek?” help us to go deeper and show us what motivates our decisions, but I’d also at the same time say that it’s an easier question to answer that “what do you want?” It’s easier to say that “I want to be happy” than it is to figure out precisely what it is that I can do that will end up making me most happy.
Here is where things are going to get interesting. Keeping all of this in mind, I want you to ask yourself one more question: “Do my decisions of what I do each day, doing what I want to do, truly fulfill the longings of what I seek?” I’ll admit right from the start that if I’m not focused and I find myself going with the flow of day to day life, that it is incredibly easy to do a very poor job of living in such a way as to truly fulfill the deeper desires of what I seek. It’s so easy to be tricked into thinking that we are being fulfilled, that we do a good job of figuring out how to live each day, because to some degree we will end up choosing to do things that will bring us some happiness, but unless we actually take note of what we seek, and how we go about fulfilling it, we’ll never realize and experience the heights of love that we yearn for and that our hearts were made for!
It is crucial as we being this journey that we fully grasp the utter importance of the fact that our hearts have been made for a very precise purpose! This truth is the key that everything in this book and everything in the Christian life hinges upon. Our hearts have been made to love and to be loved. Our hearts have been created for union with a God who loves us, a God who loves us in every moment, just as we are, right where we are (take a moment to let this sink in right now: You are loved, cherished, appreciated, accepted, valued, treasured, and understood). It is vital that we believe this because this truth means that our lives have meaning and purpose. Our lives aren’t a random series of events whose outcomes don’t matter. Everything matters, and every thought, decision, and action either leads our hearts toward the goal and toward deep fulfillment or away from this. St. Augustine speaks of this truth, in what is truly my favorite line from any of the saints, when he says “You have created us for yourself O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Let me ask you this: “Is your heart restless?” I’ll tell you my answer to that question: “Yes! My heart is restless and it has been for a very long time.” If you find that your heart is restless, then I want to propose that you need to change up the way you go about finding fulfillment for the thing that your heart seeks!
When Jesus turned around, lovingly looked upon the individuals who were walking along behind Him, and He then asked “What do you seek?” the two simply said “Rabbi (Teacher) where are you staying?” Their answer was perfect – and we NEED to take it to heart. When Jesus asked “What do you seek?” they didn’t say that they wanted any specific thing in that moment, nor did they want some piece of knowledge from Him, rather, they wanted a relationship. They wanted to dwell with Jesus, they wanted to go on a journey with Him to wherever it was that He wanted to take them. How does Jesus respond to this request? He said “Come and see,” and we’re told that “They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day.”
Right now, whether you are aware of it or not, whether you understand it or not, your heart is crying out, absolutely begging you to listen to its pleading, for you to comprehend that at the deepest of levels you seek to be loved, cherished, appreciated, accepted, valued, treasured, and understood. And that the only way to true fulfillment is by asking God: “Where are you staying?” In other words, our hearts have been created for relationship with God; the purpose of our lives is to be loved by God and to love Him in return, and that when we find where He is staying, that we can’t just stop in for a cup of coffee and then be on our way! We need to follow in the footsteps of the first followers whom Jesus lovingly spoke to. We need to stay with Him the whole day, and the whole night, and then to repeat the process again and again into eternity!
We are embarking on a journey, and what an adventure it will be! I say this because right now, at the same time as we are becoming aware of our restless hearts’ desire and need for God, Jesus is calling out to us, and He is saying to each of us, to each of our hearts “Come and See.” Are you ready to follow? Are you prepared to discover what Jesus has lovingly prepared for you from the beginning of time? I hope and pray that what you find here on this site will help you to encounter and to stay with the Lord. Be assured of my prayers for you and please pray for me too!
Thoughts and Reflections from Fr. Romke 