By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
Poor Little Bo-Peep would have made a terrible investigator. Imagine asking her a few basic questions: “Ma’am, when did you last see your sheep? Did you search the pasture? Check the gate? Follow their tracks? Talk to anyone who might have seen them?” Apparently, the answer to all of the above would have been no. Her investigative strategy was much simpler: Leave them alone, and they’ll come home.
Cute nursery rhyme. Terrible source management.
During my years in the Air Force, particularly through my experience with the Office of Special Investigations, I learned the importance of being resourceful. When you’re trying to determine what actually happened, you don’t simply accept the first explanation that comes along. You ask questions, seek evidence, talk to people, knock on doors—sometimes literally—and follow one source until it leads to another. You keep looking because ultimately you’re after something that matters: TRUTH!
Interestingly, I don’t remember learning much about “source management” in Bible school, seminary, or church. Yet Jesus taught the principle pretty clearly. In Matthew 7:7–8, He tells us to ask, seek, and knock. If you don’t know, ask. If you can’t find it, seek. If the door is closed, knock. And when your pursuit uncovers what is true, have the courage to walk through the door!
But Jesus takes us much deeper than simply teaching us how to locate resources. True resourcefulness begins with knowing the difference between a resource and the Source.
We see that distinction all the way back in Genesis. God placed humanity in a garden filled with everything necessary for life, including the Tree of Life. Life came from God. Truth came from God. Wisdom came from God. GOOD came from God. God was the Source.
Then another voice entered the garden and asked, “Did God really say…?” Suddenly humanity had a source-management problem. Eve saw something that appeared good, desirable, and capable of making her wise. The problem wasn’t simply that she wanted something good. The deeper problem was that she began looking somewhere other than God to determine what was GOOD.
Hello…the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Instead of continuing to receive life and GOOD from the Source—the Tree of Life—humanity reached for the right to determine good and evil for itself.
Then came the fall.
Welcome to today.
We’re still reaching, and it still isn’t working. We look to money for security, relationships for identity, politics for salvation, social media for truth, and sometimes even pastors to do our thinking for us. Many of these things can be useful resources, but a resource should never become the Source.
That’s part of what those two trees in the Garden help us see, and why repentance remains so relevant. Repentance isn’t simply feeling bad about something we’ve done. It is turning—reorienting ourselves away from the wrong sources and back toward the Source of Life.
That’s what makes Jesus’ instruction so practical. Asking acknowledges that I don’t possess everything I need. Seeking means I’m willing to pursue what is true and good. Knocking means I’m willing to act on what I discover. And Jesus tells us where that pursuit is ultimately oriented. A few verses later, He points us toward our Father in heaven, who gives good gifts to those who ask Him.
There’s the Source.
Luke’s account of this same teaching makes the connection even more interesting. Jesus says the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. Perhaps that helps us understand resourcefulness differently. Resourcefulness isn’t saying, “I can figure everything out myself.” Quite the opposite. Resourcefulness is knowing where to go when you don’t have what you need.
Sometimes that means praying. Sometimes it means studying Scripture, asking better questions, talking with wise people, investigating, learning, listening, following the evidence, or trying another door. It means using the mind, relationships, opportunities, abilities, time, and resources God has already placed around us while remembering where every good thing ultimately comes from.
Poor Little Bo-Peep decided to wait around and hope her sheep eventually wandered home. I suppose that worked in the nursery rhyme, but it’s probably not the best strategy for living.
Jesus gives us something better.
When something important is missing, ask. When you don’t know where to find it, seek. When you encounter a closed door, knock. Be curious. Be persistent. Be prayerful. Be resourceful.
And whatever you discover along the way, never confuse the resource with the Source—especially when it comes to your soul.
Something to think about.
God is the Source.
Now go find the sheep—and while you’re at it, make sure your soul knows its way Home.
As always…God is here. God is able. God is good.
Pastor Drake
I’ll be continuing this conversation later this week on the Just Sayin’ podcast, where we’ll take a deeper look at The Resourcefulness Weapon: Little Bo-Peep
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so, we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.