“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink– even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk– it’s all free!

2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.

3 “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.

4 See how I used him to display my power among the peoples. I made him a leader among the nations.

5 You also will command nations you do not know, and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey, because I, the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”

6 Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.

7 Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.

8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.

11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

12 You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!

13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the LORD’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.” (Isaiah 55:1-13)

An addiction workbook that I am working through encourages us, as part of step 11, to go on a spiritual quest.

So, to slightly alter the question of a Monte Python character, I am asking myself, “What is my quest?”  For what am I searching?

I could say God, but I’m not sure that God is lost.  Isn’t God (if there is such a being) everywhere and every-when present?

Yes, I believe that there is a God and that God is always present.  In fact, both the Old and New Testaments teach that God seeks us.  From the question, “Where are you, man?” in Genesis 3:9, to the invitation of the Spirit and the bride to come to the water of life in Revelation 22:17, God is the seeker and we are the sought.

And yet, we are also told to seek the LORD.  In the words of Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.”  So, in reality, my quest is for the God who is questing for me.

This quest, this seeking of God, involves two important things I will need to abandon, and two crucial things God will provide.  I need to change my wicked ways and abandon my evil thoughts.  And the crucial things that God provides are forgiveness and God’s own thoughts.

I knew there must be a catch to this quest business!

Now, changing my ways isn’t easy.  But abandoning evil thoughts—man is that hard!  And accepting God’s forgiveness would involve taking seriously the evil within me.  And what if God’s thoughts aren’t my thoughts?  In fact, Isaiah sets point blank that God’s thoughts are not my thoughts.

And yet, this is abandoning of my ways and ways of thinking, and accepting God’s way is the very way to forgiveness.  I can hold on to my wicked ways and evil thoughts, or I can be willing to let go of them, and allow God’s forgiveness to have its way with me.  Some people act as if forgiveness is easy.  I flat out do not agree!

And then there’s the matter of God’s thoughts.  Apparently having been willing to seek God, turn from my wicked ways and evil thoughts, and having experienced God’s forgiveness, I now need to concentrate on God’s thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Isaiah 55:10-13 sound wonderfully refreshing.  However, seeking God sounds like a lot of work, especially if it involves changing my wicked ways and forsaking my evil thoughts.  I have gotten attached to those ways and thoughts!  And, of course, they are not really that wicked—maybe.

On second thought, maybe I’ll just roll back over and go back to sleep.  To paraphrase Bilbo Baggins, quests are nasty things, that will make you late for dinner.  And I’m old now, too old for quests and adventures.

On the other hand, I’m afraid that if I go back to sleep, I might never wake up again.  Besides, maybe I’m too old not to go on a quest!  And maybe seeking the God who has been chasing me all these years might be worth every ounce of my remaining strength, no matter how young or old I am.