Jump Start # 3601

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Our verse today, coming from the lips of Jesus, was an explanation as to why He was going to the home of Zaccheus, a wealthy, chief tax collector. Jesus came to save. He not only is the source of salvation and the instrument by which we can be saved, but He is actively seeking the lost. He’s on the hunt. It is as if the doors of Heaven were opened, and God sent out the hounds looking for us. He doesn’t want any of us to be lost. He has done more than just kept the front porch light on for us, He has taken on the search for us.

Little reminders all about us, if we are thinking and if we are observing, connect us to Jesus. A passage posted on Facebook. An act of kindness above the call of duty. A fence post where someone has sprayed painted, “Trust Jesus.” They make us think. They make us consider. Jesus is seeking.

But, what is also interesting is putting our Luke 10 passage along side of another passage found in 1 Peter. There, we find, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (5:8).

Did you catch it? Did you see it? It’s there. Jesus is seeking the lost. The devil is seeking to devour. Both are on the hunt. Both have you in their eyes. How easily we dismiss this by thinking, “No one cares about me.” The devil does. He’s seeking you. Jesus does. He’s seeking you. Some might conclude, “I could drop out and no one would even miss me.” The devil would. He’s on the hunt for you. Jesus would. He’s looking for you.

This image of both Jesus and the devil seeking sure dismisses the idea that God has finished all His work and He is just sitting on the grandstands of life seeing how we do in the game of life. Not so. He is active. He is using every tool in Heaven to save you. And, at the same time, Satan is using every tool of Hell to destroy you. Neither are trying to save the environment. Neither are seeking some rare bird. They are after you. They will pursue you until you are no more there. They will use people, places and things to win you over.

Now, here are some thoughts for us:

First, it’s hard to imagine that we are worth all of this trouble. We are not famous. We are not shaping this culture we are in. Why us? Because, you are made in the image of God. You have the potential to be a shiner of light. You may not think you are much, but Jesus and Satan know better. Sometimes we may feel like we are just a number. No one at work says much about you. Sometimes, even your family ignores you. But, spiritually and eternally, Jesus and the devil are looking for you.

Second, we don’t see nor understand all that goes on behind the scenes and under the surface. Little things, like drops of rain, that encourages our spirits and strengthens our souls. We appreciate them, but were they Heaven sent? Was this Jesus way of seeking us? And, when things don’t go well. Frustrations, anger, pain, sorrow—are these things from Satan? We may never know. We do know how God expects us to conduct ourselves. We do know what God wants from us. You may feel like one has your right arm and the other has your left arm, and they are pulling and pulling you their direction.

Third, in the end, one will have their way with us. Either, Jesus will win and we will be saved. Or, Satan will win and we will lose our souls. Eternally, we know Jesus conquers Satan. But the battle over you, is going on until you are no more. The choices you make. Those that you include in your life. Your habits. Your character. How much of God’s word that you allow to dwell within you—all of those things will bring you to one or the other. Satan will find me and devour me or the Lord will find me and save me. But, neither will have their way over me without my consent. In the end, I will be saved because I want to be saved, or, I will be lost because I want to be lost.

There was a Australian pop group from the early 60s called “The Seekers.” And, that’s what is taking place. Satan is seeking. Jesus is seeking. And, in the end, you will decide who finds you. It will be one or the other.

Roger

Jump Start # 2362

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Our verse today reminds us of the divine mission of Jesus Christ. He came for the purpose to save us from our sins. All other beneficial things that He accomplished pale under this mission. Had He built bridges between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, yet He failed to be the sacrifice for our sins, this would have of little importance. Had he showed us how to be nice to strangers and love our enemies, yet He failed to redeem us from our sins, this too, would have been of little importance. Had He brought world peace, yet failed to bring mankind in peace with God, this would have been of little importance. It seems that some want Jesus to be everything but what He really came to do, be a Savior for mankind. Without the precious blood of Jesus, all hope is lost.

This passage in Luke reminds us that Jesus wasn’t simply available for salvation, but that He was the drive, the motive, the engine that sought the lost. Jesus came looking for the lost. The Gospels reveal many who came to Jesus for healings, but He came for the divine healing of the soul. He wasn’t stationary, sitting behind a desk, waiting for people to line up in the mornings for salvation. He was in the villages. He traveled from place to place. In a crowded home, as a man is lowered through the roof, Jesus offers salvation. That’s what He came to do. In the home of little Zaccheaus, Jesus declared that “salvation has come” to his home. Even, in the final minutes of His life, while on the cross, Jesus tells the penitent thief, “today, you’ll be with Me in paradise.” Salvation.

And, after Jesus returned to Heaven, the search was on. He scattered the apostles into all the world. The Holy Spirit guided these men to preach and write God’s holy word. Just another means of searching for the lost. God would never give up. When the prodigal finally came back to home, the father came running. He’d been waiting, hoping and looking.

And, today, the search continues. Jesus still seeks the lost. Here is a few ways this is done:

First, it’s through active Christians who are sowing the seed of the kingdom. They are inviting, looking, helping and connecting with all sorts of people. The conversations at work, turn into invitations to come to worship. The brief encounter in a restaurant with a server, turns into an opportunity to pray, share a passage and invite. The table talk at home with the family, becomes opportunities to teach the saving message of Jesus Christ. Character is built. Hearts are changed. Attitudes are molded. The Gospel is powerful. God’s people become the feet, the hands, and the voice of God today.

Second, there are intersections in our lives that bring us to meet Jesus. A young man and a young girl start dating. She is a Christian, he’s not. He’s never thought about those things very much. As they date, she impresses upon him how important the Lord is to her. So he attends worship. He sees things that he’s never thought of before. He hears the Gospel preached. And, in this simple manner, Jesus has sought that which is lost. There are all kinds of intersections in our lives. There at a funeral, the preacher shows how death is viewed from Heaven’s perspective and how that death is not the end. Some in the audience have never given any of this much thought. But at this time and on this day, their hearts are opened to the something that they now realize is a reality in life. Their lives have intersected with someone who showed them Jesus.

Third, there are little reminders here and there. I don’t necessarily think that these things are divine, Heaven sent or if God is even behind them, but there they are. You are driving down the highway and painted on a sign post is “Trust Jesus.” You see that. It makes you think. Off in a field, is a small white church building and three crosses are standing nearby. You see. You notice. You think. You pass a truck, and you notice on it’s back trailer a sign, “Jesus loves you.” You see. You notice. You think. At a hotel, as you settle in and put your things away, you open a desk drawer and there is a Bible. You see. You notice. You think. You flip through TV channels looking for something to watch and there is a movie about Jesus. You see. You notice. You think. Little reminders. A quote on Facebook. An email. A Jump Start sent to you. Little hints. The Lord is seeking you.

Fourth, there are those words from family members. You call dad, and in the conversation he asks if you’ve been to worship in a while. Grandma gets on you about your attitude. Someone in the family hands you a church bulletin article that they feel would help you. Reminders. There is a source that is trying to get you back to the Lord.

It’s as if the doors of Heaven have been opened and God sent out the hounds looking for you. Some how they find you. Some how they know right where you are. They may irritate you and bug you. They may make you feel guilty. They may hound you to do what you ought to be doing. And, even though you may try to put all of this out of your mind, some how the hounds of Heaven find you. Little reminders. Little thoughts. All of these things are means to get you back to the Lord. God is seeking. He won’t let go of you. He can’t forget you. He’ll chase you all of your life, until you finally see the truth and bow before Him, or else, you’ll simply run out of life.

The more connections your family, friends and life has had with the Lord, the greater these reminders will be. God wants you to be saved. Sometimes these divine irritations are just what we need to get back. Sometimes it takes us becoming friendless, helpless and hopeless, like the prodigal before we come to our senses. But what did the prodigal do? He returned home. He didn’t take his life. He didn’t give up thinking that there was no hope. He remembered. How his father’s servants were treated was something that stuck in his mind. For us, it may be a comment a preacher made in a sermon. It may be a card that was mailed to us. It may be a song from a funeral. It may be the kindness that someone has shown us. It may be an old Bible tucked away in a box that we stumble across one day. It may be a memory of a Bible class teacher long ago. It’s there. It’s in our minds. Every once in a while, those memories surface. They remind us of what we know. They remind us of what we ought to do. The hounds of Heaven have found us.

Jesus came to seek that which is lost. He’ll use every tool in Heaven to accomplish this. He’s using things right now to reach us. Isn’t it time? Won’t you come back home to the Lord? Maybe you’ve had a bad experience in the past. Jesus has never hurt you. Maybe you were taught some things that aren’t true to the Scriptures. Maybe those things got you all confused and fuzzy. Maybe you got so busy that you didn’t have time for God. Maybe, life just hasn’t turned out the way you thought it should have. And, maybe you’ve been angry with God for a long time. He hasn’t quit on you. He never will.

Isn’t it time?

(Share this with someone that you think could be helped with these words)

Roger

Jump Start # 1465

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

  Jesus came at a specific time in world history for a specific reason. He was on a divine mission to save mankind from a destiny of Hell. He came to save and redeem. In Revelation it states that He “went out conquering and to conquer.” God sent Jesus to save us. That is the theme of the Bible. That is what the Bible is all about. There are two thoughts to be shared from this:

First, Jesus stayed the course. His mission was to seek and to save. He did just that. Have you ever thought how difficult that must have been for Jesus? Not just doing the will of His Father, but being God on earth. God knows everything. How difficult it must have been for Jesus not to stray off His mission to help mankind in other areas. It would take centuries before modern medicine would come up with vaccines for polio and smallpox. Jesus could have told people in the first century what to do. It would take years and years  before surgeries were developed and understood. Jesus could have shared that information.  Teaching about water purification, sharing engineering principles, communication technology—so many things that are a part of our world, just imagine if Jesus had spread that information. Imagine what the apostles could have done if they had live streaming, Facebook and email. Imagine how fast the word would have read about Jesus  if the apostles had copy machines available to them. Imagine if Paul had a plane to travel in. Jesus didn’t share any of those things. He came to seek and to save the lost. He stuck with His purpose and His mission. That is impressive!

Sometimes we would do better if we stuck to our mission, as individuals and as congregations. We can get bogged down with stuff that really doesn’t matter. We get side tracked. We get doing so many things that we can forget what the main thing is. We must stick to our mission as well. We have a job to do and we need to do it. There was a lot of good that Jesus could have done just to improve life but He didn’t. He wasn’t sent to be a cure to all diseases. He wasn’t sent to improve mass travel. He wasn’t sent to help us eat better, live longer and improve the environment. Those would have been useful things, but that would not helped His mission. He came to seek and to save that which was lost.

Second, Jesus completed His mission. He finished what He came to do. Upon the cross, Jesus uttered, “It is finished.” Not, “I am finished,” but “It” is. The “it” was what He came to do. He fulfilled the plan. He did it.   John records Jesus saying in His prayer to the Father, “having accomplished the work You sent Me to do.” Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. He did that. Salvation is in Christ. Hope, freedom and forgiveness are a part of that wonderful grace that God has extended to those who believe and obey His message.

Finished. Done. Completed. We know the feeling. A big project at work is finally completed. The student finally finishes the long paper he had to write. The highway that has been under construction for what seems to be years and years, finally is finished. No more orange cones. No more snarled traffic. Paul used similar language when he said, “I have finished the course.” Finished. Done with school, what a great feeling. Finished with therapy. Finished changing baby diapers. Finished is a milestone of accomplishments.

You are I are not finished with Heaven’s work. Not yet. God will call us when He is ready. Until then, it’s to the work we go. There are folks to be encouraged. There are people who need to know about the Lord. There are men who need to be developed to be the next elders. There are classes to teach, sermons to preach and articles to write. The work carries on. We must be busy in His work. There is so much to do and so little time to do it. Being organized and being efficient are valuable tools. We can waste too much time just looking for stuff. Times a wasting and we need to get at it. We can waste time by being lazy. We need a fire lit under us to move us and keep us going in the right direction. Living with a plan, as individuals and as a congregation, helps keep one on course.

Jesus came for a reason. Jesus finished what He came to do.

It would help us to remember those thoughts.

Roger