I don’t wear an eye patch. I don’t hold a hook. There’s no peg on my leg. But I’m a pirate. I search for treasure each and every day.

I look for happiness. I search for peace. I seek satisfaction. I long to find a treasure chest full of joy.

You’re likely a pirate, too. So let’s dig up some treasure in God’s Word, matey.

Jesus says, “‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened’” (Matt. 7:7-8 ESV).

We’re all searching for treasure. But here’s the question: where are we searching?

I had my wisdom teeth removed last week. The surgical crew took me to a room. They discussed the procedure. I gave my consent in the form of a pathetic signature. Then, I gave my consent again because the first signature was a straight line. I was slightly nervous. But before I knew it, I was sound asleep with anesthesia.

The surgery went well. I remember nothing.
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As I escaped anesthesia’s strong grasp, I pointed to the sky and mumbled words. That’s what they told me. I like to say I came out preaching.

“Moses, Moses!”

The voice comes from a burning bush—well, it isn’t really burning. But it’s on fire.

“Then the LORD said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites’” (Ex. 3:7-8 ESV).
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The Israelites have been under Egyptian bondage for nearly 400 years. But God, seeing the hurt of His people, decides to come down for them.

As an avid coffee drinker, I know what makes a good cup of coffee. It all begins with a good brand of coffee grounds. I prefer McDonald’s. Then, there’s the coffee maker. The better the coffee grounds are filtered, the better the coffee tastes. But there’s one more requirement for a good cup of coffee. It’s the mug.

The taste of the content depends on the container.
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My dad always drinks his coffee from a Styrofoam cup. I don’t. Why? Because I don’t like how it makes my coffee taste. I prefer traditional mugs. When I’m home, I usually drink from one of two different mugs. One is my Bible verse mug. The other is my Clearwater Beach mug. And honestly, I drink more coffee from my Yeti than either one of those.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6 NKJV).

I had this verse in mind as I stood on the beach last month. Looking at the water reminded me of my uncertain future. The empty horizon left me wondering.

I start college this weekend, and I’m not sure what to expect. When I look into the future, there’s an empty horizon. I don’t know what’s ahead, but I know the Way. His name is Jesus.
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I feel like Peter. It’s time for me to step out of the boat.