“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10
I was looking forward to the appointment scheduled with my Audiologist. The hearing devices I have are top notch! They actually have the ability to sync with my cell phone where a program lies at my fingertips to adjust my ‘ears’ to any given situation! Like the other day when I was around a pack of screaming kids. I was irritated only as long as it took to open my app! With a touch of a button I immediately tuned all that noise out! Pretty cool huh? Oh… and my ‘ears’ can do other things as well!
When I got my ‘ears’ I was told that there is a program written for the Apple iPhone that allows phone calls to be heard directly through them. Furthermore, when syncing by way of Bluetooth, I can play my favorite music right into my ‘ears’ from my iPhone. The problem is, I don’t own an iPhone! I have an Android! BUT… there is an extra gizmo I can get to make it work with my Android. Thus my excitement to see my Doctor.
There was a learning curve to the new device, but we finally had it working. I attached the enclosed lanyard and hung the new device around my neck and left for home HOPING someone would soon call me. When I got home, I took it off and showed my wife, explaining what it could do. We got to talking about HER day when it finally happened. My phone rang! But I couldn’t find my gizmo! Within 5 minutes I had laid it down… and LOST it!
I have written about this very passage before. It is one of my favorites. The ‘Lord of the Universe’ showed up, in person, among the religious elite in an attempt to clearly spell out God’s agenda. The noise from their protests forced Jesus to shout out the message in a God infused 1 liner… “the Son of Man came to seek and to save THE LOST!” He created a stir!
The word ‘lost’ here does NOT mean misplaced. It means destroyed, ruined or broken beyond repair! In looking at a picture of someone lost in a darkened woodland, there is still hope. For mankind, the situation was more like being a crushed turtle, under truck tires, on hot pavement! NO HOPE! THAT is the picture Jesus was portraying here. The extent of the word ‘LOST’ gets lost in translation!
You and I are NOT some cool ‘gizmo’ that God finds cute and wants to have around. I carry within me the DNA of the ‘Lord of the Universe!’ And He wants me BACK! He will go to ANY length necessary to seek, find and attempt a restoration rescue. But in EVERY case where His hand reaches, it stops before the hand He finds. The NEXT 6 inches, and grasp, must be made by the choice of the potentially rescued!
Jesus Christ is calling YOU… DON’T be a gizmo!
