Topic: Faithfully Seeking the Lost

Text: For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).

Jesus Christ came with the purpose of seeking those who are lost. Christ taught the importance of seeking after the one who is lost. We will have to seek out the lost intentionally because they’re not likely to come to us so we must go to them. Since the fall of Adam, all mankind is in a lost and fallen state. In that regard, Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and to make disciples of all nations but also to teach them to observe what He taught them (Mathew 28:19-20). This is part of the seeking and saving of the lost. The passion of Jesus Christ for the lost was what He wanted to teach His followers and His disciples, and it’s what they wanted to teach us. That we must remain faithful to the end in our passion for the lost.

God, in his infinite mercies, has other amazing ways of witnessing to the lost. Darlene Sala in her Series: “Encouraging Words; Seeking the Lost”, told the story of a professional diver, who while diving one day on the bottom of the ocean, noticed an oyster with a piece of paper in its mouth. He detached the oyster and held the piece of paper close to the goggles of his headgear. He found that it was a Gospel tract telling how to become a Christian, and calling on whoever reads it to repent of his sins.

The diver was amazed and said, “I cannot hold out against God any longer, since He has gone to so much trouble to track me down.” He repented of his sins at the bottom of the ocean and placed His faith in Jesus Christ. God used an oyster to change the diver’s life. God is glorified when a lost person is found and saved from eternal condemnation.

Quite often, people cannot reach out to God by their own efforts. God often reaches out to us. The story of Zacchaeus in the gospel of Luke 19 is a good example of this. Zacchaeus was determined to see Jesus, and would let nothing stop him. But he was so short that he could not get to see Jesus among the crowd, so he ran ahead and climbed the sycamore tree beside the road, to be able to watch Jesus from there (Luke 19:3-4). For Zacchaeus to mix with the crowd at all was a courageous act; for many people would have taken an opportunity to kick, or push the little tax-collector who had for long rip them off.

The action of Zacchaeus is a picture of human effort to reach God. The sycamore tree typifies the human way to reach out to God. But being short and inadequate, human effort cannot reach God’s standard to find & reach him. Only the tree of Jesus, which is the cross, can bridge the gap between God and man. The connection that has been lost due to sin has been reconnected through Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and man.

When Jesus was passing by the tree, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! For I must be a guest in your home today” (Luke 19:5). Jesus looked out for Zacchaeus more than Zacchaeus was looking out for Jesus! Jesus is always looking for lost sinners more than lost sinners look for Jesus. That is His passion. He wants to enter into every person’s heart and life. All believers of Christ should have this kind of compassion for the lost. Unfortunately, very few believers are actively sharing their faith. We must get back to the heart of Christ’s mission and passion so that the Church can be the voice of truth to those who are lost. God makes it clear through His word that He wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1Timothy 2:4).

Prayer:

• There is nobody who is out of salvation’s reach. Pray for the lost in faith and hope (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
• Ask the Lord to remove every veil covering the eyes of the lost.
• Ask the Lord to place more believers on the path of the unreached who will boldly proclaim the truth and faithfully walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Andrew Gwaivangmin

Executive Secretary, NEMA