That's How the Lost Get Found!

When I was in Kindergarten, I remember “getting lost” at the grocery store.  I guess the candy aisle was calling to me and I just had to go and look at it!  When I went back to the other aisle where I had left my mom, she was nowhere to be found.  I ran up and down aisles looking frantically for her and then I started to cry.  A kind, older woman, who was a check-out person, came over to me and I told her that I was lost.  Of course, my mom heard my cries and came running over to me within about 30 seconds.  I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it was to be scooped up by my mom, who said, “I knew where you were all the time!  I never took my eye off of you!  You were not lost!”

This past weekend, Pastor Steve talked about how the older brother in the story should have gone after his brother and should have found him and then brought him home.  The younger brother was unfortunate to have a Pharisee for an older brother.  We, on the other hand, have an elder brother who will indeed run after us – Jesus.  No matter how far we try to run from Him, Jesus will never stop running after us.  He will recklessly run after us when we lose our way.  

Not only that, but Jesus invites you and me also to run after the lost and to bring back those who have walked away.  What a wonderful opportunity Jesus gives to each of us to help grow His Kingdom!  The question is this, are we looking for the lost?  Perhaps many of us are not even looking. 

I would challenge each of us this weekend to “really see” the people God puts around us each day and to begin to seek after the lost.  It’s easy to pass co-workers, neighbors and even family members each day, yet not really “see” them.  We have an opportunity to be Jesus’ hands and feet on this earth – to seek the lost and to bring them Home.  What an awesome ministry Jesus invites us to be a part of! 

Britt Nicole has a wonderfully challenging song to us all about seeking the lost.  As one line from the song says, we need to relentlessly seek the lost because “somewhere somebody needs a reason to believe.”  The song is called “The Lost Get Found.”  Listen now>>

Pax,

Pastor Carol