There has always been something that bugged me about getting an envelope that contains more than just the letter and then says somewhere in the body of the letter, “Please find enclosed (whatever was enclosed,).” And now I get e-mails that say, “Please find attached…”
In the dictionary in which I looked, there are 14 definitions for “find”; three of them are nouns and four have to do with either the law or animals. That leaves the following nine meanings that are possibilities:
1. to come upon by chance; meet with
2. to locate, attain, or obtain by search or effort
3. to locate or recover (something lost or misplaced)
4. to discover or perceive after consideration
5. to gain or regain the use of
6. to ascertain by study or calculation:
7. to feel or perceive
8. to become aware of, or discover (oneself), as being in a condition or location
9. to discover:
Let’s look at the remaining definitions in context to discover what the letter senders, (or e-mail mailers,) could mean:
- Please come upon or meet with by chance the enclosed… (Why make the effort to send it if they want us to come upon it by chance?)
- Please locate, attain, or obtain by search or effort the enclosed… (They sent something minuscule in an enormous envelope?)
- Please locate or recover the lost or misplaced enclosed stuff. (If it is lost or misplaced how can it be enclosed?)
- Please discover or perceive after consideration the enclosed… (I’ll have to think about this.)
- Please gain or regain the use of the enclosed… (I’m pretty sure I have never received any body parts or faculties in an envelope or via e-mail, although I did ‘find’ enclosed credit cards on occasion.)
- I have yet to use this definition to find something attached or enclosed. Maybe I’m just lazy or dull witted.
- Now, I have ‘felt’ something enclosed on occasion because somebody is soliciting funds and they hope that the receiver will donate for that pad of paper or nickel or whatever it is, but if my memory serves correctly, the letter never said to “Please find enclosed…” I just found it on my own.
Go ahead and finish the rest if you need too, but I bet you see what I mean.
So why should I have to ‘find’ the enclosed? If there’s not really finding evolved, please don’t ask me to do it.
Please find something attached. I won’t tell you what it is, just look for it and find it. Or think about it or study for a while and you might discover it or come upon it by chance. Although it might be lost. If it is, you might recover it and feel that you could regain the use of it.
Whatever it is.
I am very appreciative that Jesus loves me in spite of my snide comments about ‘finding’ something enclosed. I love ‘find’. He found (2) located me enclosed in my sin and bondage and obtained my freedom and salvation by His supreme effort of dying for me and paying the price for my sin. He found (3) recovered me 
when I was lost and going to hell and set me on the road to life with Him. I found (1) came upon by chance and met with people that told me what I needed to know. (At least I thought it was by chance, but God had good plans for me before I ever knew Him.) After talking to these people, I found (6, 7, 8) felt or perceived, and became aware of the fact that my life wasn’t as it should be and there was nothing I could do about it on my own. I found (9) discovered I needed a Savior to find (3) me. After finding (4, 6) discovering and considering what I was and what Jesus did, I found (4,7) felt and perceived that I should turn my life over to Him. And because I did, I found (5) new life in Him. Thanks be to Him forever more!
I hope this Thanksgiving, you will find new things in Christ, whether you’ve found Him a long time ago or have just found Him recently or you’re looking to find Him shortly. I pray that one of those things you find is a deeper knowledge of the immense love He has for you. Blessings this Thanksgiving.
