Digging Deep

As a child, I loved daydreaming about adventurous treasure hunts. One of my favorite days in kindergarten involved a scavenger hunt that ended with a treasure chest of chocolate coins. At home, I remember getting out a piece of paper to make my own map where, of course, “X” marked the spot.

Oh, how I enjoyed getting to the treasure at the end of the hunt. I was so proud – even though I was the one who created the map! There was something special about it all. Something exciting. But at the end of the hunt, there was one thing I never had to do: Dig Deep. No, the treasure was always “hidden” in plain sight. It was easy to grasp with very little effort.

This morning, I was reading the book of Luke about the wise man who built his house on the rock. I have heard this parable a million times. My Sunday School class would even sing about it each week! To this day, every time I read this passage, I cannot help but hum the tune in my head.

But today, I noticed three words that had never caught my eye before. Luke 6:46-48 says,

“Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.”

The wise man dug deep. So simple, yet so profound. And somehow, I never noticed it.

Those three little words hit me this morning. I have never been one to label the different seasons of my life, but if I picked a label for this season, “Digging Deep” would be it.

In this parable, Jesus was referencing those that are not just hearers of the word, but doers. If I allow my type A personality to come out, I can easily drive myself to dig deep by becoming a workaholic for the kingdom after reading the word “doer.”

But no, that is not what God’s grace drove me to this morning as I studied. Instead, I was reminded of how deep His Word actually is.

The reality is, the Bible is unchanging, but it is alive and active, and our hearts are ever receiving. The Bible stays the same, but new revelations await a seeking heart.

In this season, I want to dig deep by allowing my heart to be saturated into the infinite intricacies of His Word so that it can be changed from the inside out. My prayer is that His Word will have His way with my heart so that it will, in fact, make me a “doer,” but without my type A striving getting in the way.

By saturating my heart with his word, my actions will change by default.

Matthew 15:18 says,

“Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

If I focus on the word “doer” by itself, I will become self-sufficient, depending on my own works to dig deep. When I become self-sufficient, bitterness starts to creep into my heart, and I burn out. That is what every busy season in my life has lead me to: bitterness and burnout.

But by the grace of God, that is not happening during my current busy season. The difference? I am choosing not to focus on everything I can “do” to dig deep, but instead, I am choosing to focus the rock that I’m digging toward. He says his yoke is easy and his burden is light. I choose to dig deep from a place of approval and rest.

It will get messy. It will not necessarily easy. It will, however, be an adventure. An adventure greater than those of childhood daydreams and treasure chests. The greatest part of this adventure of digging deeper is that it never ends. We can build our house upon the rock, but then we get to keep building.

Growing up, I ways looked forward to the next step of getting older. Now, I will soak in every moment of this exhilarating journey of digging deeper into His Word, toward Jesus, so that I can have a firm foundation for the future.

Along the way, I will be sharing the treasures I discover through this blog. I would love for you to join me! Let’s dig together.