Are You Actually Looking - Or Just Assuming You Already Know?

If everything you’ve built your life around turned out to be the wrong thing, would you even want to know?

Sit with that for a second. Because that question lands differently depending on where you are. If you’re still searching, still restless, still unsettled, it probably sounds like an invitation.

But if you’ve had life pretty figured out for a while, it might feel more like a threat. And that difference? That’s actually the whole point of what I want to talk about today.

My Bible reading schedule takes me to the Gospel of John this week. And I landed on a passage that caused me to stop and genuinely evaluate myself. But before I get there, I need to tell you something personal, because it sets up everything.

I came to faith at twenty-four years old. My brother Rick had given me a little pamphlet called “What Does It Mean to Believe.” Simple. Fifth grade reading level. I actually had about ten copies sitting on my coffee table. And I had read it. Multiple times. Nothing happened. The words made sense. They just didn’t land.

Then one night a pastor visited. He sat down and told me a story, the same story from that pamphlet. And something happened that I cannot explain by human logic alone. The truth landed. I believed.

I became a Christian that night. As he was leaving, he reached into his pocket and handed me, the same pamphlet. I pointed at the coffee table and said, “I’ve got about ten of those.” He asked if I’d read it. I had.

Same story. Same words. Same truth. Different night. Different result.

What changed? It certainly wasn’t the content. It wasn’t the effort of the pastor or my brother Rick. Here’s what happened. The Holy Spirit showed up.

That night, God prepared me for that moment in a way ten pamphlets never could. It wasn’t just my effort. The Spirit moved in my heart and mind, and suddenly what had been sitting in front of me for months became undeniable and believable. It changed my life for eternity.

But here’s what I also want you to hear. I was twenty-four and I was searching. I was an angry young man, restless, hungry for something I couldn’t name. I wanted peace. Real confidence. Joy that actually went all the way down.

I kind of knew what I was missing. But in a way, I didn’t. Not yet. But I was open. And I believe that posture is what made the difference. Do you think you have it all figured out, or are you still curious?

For me it wasn’t my theology. Not my church attendance. Just a twenty-four year old honest enough to say, “I want more out of life than this.” And that was enough for the Holy Spirit to work with.

So let me ask you, what are you looking for? Are you looking for something at all?

Not the surface answer. The real one. What does your life actually orbit around?

Because here’s what I’ve come to believe: the people who find truth are almost never the ones who thought they already had it. Think about the people you know who’ve been genuinely transformed, not just religiously educated, but actually changed.

I’d bet most of them were ponderers. Self-reflective. Curious. Honest enough to sit with the uncomfortable gaps between what they had and what they sensed was possible.

The curious ones. The searching ones. The ones willing to live inside the question, those are the ones who find the answer.

Not the know-it-alls. The know-it-alls already left the room.

That’s exactly what I see in the disciples. Philip finds Nathanael and says, “We have found the man that Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about him.” (John 1:45 NCV)

That’s not casual, that’s a man whose soul just connected every dot it had ever collected. Truth had been planted in him, and standing in front of Jesus, recognition happened.

Nathanael pushes back. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46 NCV) I love that. That’s a real person. Honest skepticism. Real questions.

And Philip doesn’t debate him. Doesn’t overwhelm him with arguments. He just says: “Come and see.” (John 1:46 NCV)

Three words. Come and see. Not trust me blindly. Just, come, look, and let truth do what truth does when the Spirit is on it.

And Nathanael goes. Because even in his skepticism, he was still open. Still asking. Still willing to look.

And when Jesus says, “Before Philip told you about me, I saw you when you were under the fig tree” (John 1:48 NCV) This skeptic responds immediately: “Teacher, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” (John 1:49 NCV) - That’s a Holy Spirit moment.

That’s not a slow theological journey. That’s a man whose soul had been prepared, and when Jesus called his name, recognition happened instantly.

Now here’s the uncomfortable part. The people who most consistently missed Jesus weren’t the uninformed. They weren’t the skeptics. They were the ones already certain they had all the answers.

The Pharisees had memorized more Scripture than most of us will ever read. Their buckets were completely full. And that’s precisely why nothing new could get in.

Jesus said it himself: “The Father has not explained everything to the wise and educated. But he has shown them to those who are like little children.” (Matthew 11:25 NCV)

The entry point to truth is not intelligence. Not education. Not religious performance. It’s the posture of a child, small enough to know they don’t know, honest enough to want what they don’t have.

You cannot fill a bucket that’s already full.

So where are you? Are you genuinely searching, or has a comfortable certainty slowly hardened into something you can’t see through anymore?

Because the searching ones find Him. Almost every time. Not because they’re smarter. But because their posture invites the Holy Spirit to work.

That restlessness you feel? That quiet ache you can’t quite name? Don’t dismiss it. That might be the Holy Spirit preparing you for your moment.

If you’ve never truly surrendered your life to Jesus, not as a tradition, not as a category, but as the actual Lord of your actual life, I want to invite you to do what Philip told Nathanael. Just come and see.

Bring your questions. Bring your skepticism. Come with open hands. And let truth do what truth does when the Spirit is on it.

And if you’ve been walking with God for years, when’s the last time you came to Him with a genuinely open bucket?

The disciples who changed the world weren’t the ones who had it all figured out. They were the ones willing to come and see.

GOD, I want to read your word every day like someone that’s not familiar with it - and you know I’ve been reading it cover to cover every year for 29 plus years. Help me be curious, to dig deeper, to look for more meaning, to love more, love better, serve more, to empty out myself more. To really grow in love, respect and honor for you - and for other people. Change me. I don’t know it all. The more I look at your word, the more I realize I don’t know. And I think that’s a good thing. So change me more please. IJNIP amen ♥️