Today’s Passage: Luke 15

Think back to a time you were lost. Do you have any? Maybe for some it was when you were driving and reluctant to stop and ask for directions. Maybe for others it was more serious. You know, lost, having no idea how to make your way out (or back), and scared.

We can get physically lost while on a hike. Food, water, shelter, and weather all become terribly important. We can get mentally lost, finding ourselves at a place in our lives that is not good, and yet we don’t know where to turn. We can find ourselves spiritually lost, either railing against God, or worshiping some cheap imitation.

Jesus is once again with folks who have not warmed up to him (to say the least). As an aside, it is amazing how much time he spends with them. They don’t like him. They oppose him. Their dislike will grow to hatred. Their hatred to murder. Jesus knows this reality. He has predicted his death, and will predict it again.

Why is he spending so much time with them? Because he is looking for the lost. They too are lost. Perhaps, out of everyone Jesus meets, they are lost most of all—you see, they do not think they are lost. When I am driving a car in the wrong direction, and I think I know where I am going, I get further lost, faster!

It is amazing that Jesus, by spending all this time with his adversaries, is loving them, calling them home. The so-called sinners and tax-collectors, they know they are lost. They welcome Jesus’ rescue. Humility, repentance, joy because of his invitation—we read of all these attributes appearing in them.

Perhaps the best moment is when you have been found. Thank God Jesus was looking for me and found me. Without him, I am perpetually prone to getting lost—in fact, it’s guaranteed.

How about you?