Know of God’s Pursuit
OPENING PRAYER:
Dear Father, as I come to you today I do so in obedience because I know that you have promised to give wisdom from your word. I take you at your word today and ask that you would prepare my heart to receive it honestly and completely.
READ:
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
The Parable of the Lost Coin
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:1-10 (NIV)
10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10 (NIV)
REFLECT:
Lost – “unable to find one’s way: not knowing one’s whereabouts” (Oxford Dictionary). I have been lost before (not as many times as my wife says, but more than I care to admit). When I am truly lost, there are times I am in blissful ignorance and times when I am in outright inner panic, and usually in that order. In every case I can honestly say it was never my intention to get lost. It just happened. One bad turn after another. Often it is because I stubbornly insisted that I knew where I was going “thank you very much”. In every case, I needed help to get “un-lost”. I also needed to accept that help. On a trip to Dublin, Ireland my wife and I journeyed out on our own. We even had a map. However, two hours later we had no clue which way was home. It was getting dark and starting to rain and the inner panic had set in. Then there she was…an elderly lady carrying groceries back to her home. She realized our predicament and insisted on walking us back to where we could get our bearings. She even took me by the hand, still carrying her groceries in the other. She was our angel. She was there AND we accepted her help.
Do you ever wonder why the Bible refers to being “lost” when it refers to a person that has not accepted Christ as their personal savior? Is it not because they are in the wrong place and either don’t know it, pretend not to care, or don’t’ know how to get back to where they should be? It is because there is no relationship with their heavenly father, and they are truly missing out on “life…to the full” (John 10:10). Rebellion, stubborn pride, foolishness, honest and misguided independent motives….it doesn’t matter. Lostness doesn’t care. To see a person, and especially a child of yours, in this condition is truly heartbreaking. But take heart, God is there to “seek and to save the lost.” He is relentless and will never give up on a clueless sheep or a misplaced coin. Both have more value to him than you can ever know.
APPLY:
When you are tempted to despair over a lost child making bad choices, remember that God is on the hunt. He is able and relentless. Your prayer should not be that God will seek. He will. Rather pray that the lost child will seek, ask, knock and allow themselves to be found by a relentlessly searching shepherd who will guide them home. “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens that door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
CLOSING PRAYER:
Today, God, please allow me to trust that you are always ready and seeking and to focus my prayer on prepared hearts in my children to repent and invite you to bring them home. Amen
WORSHIP: