If you’ve never had your identity stolen, you probably wonder how somebody else could be so reckless to let it happen. If you’ve never lost your wallet at Wal-mart, you probably wonder why somebody else would look about so frantically. If you’ve never smoked a cigarette, you probably wonder why somebody else could be so stupid to start smoking and get addicted.
If you never lost your job, you probably don’t think about how fortunate you are to have one … as you look again at the clock on the wall. If you never got a divorce, you probably don’t think enough about how blessed you are to have your spouse by your side … at another one of those boring dinners you kind of have to go to. If you never lost a child, you probably don’t appreciate how good it is to coax your tired child out of bed … on Monday morning, round one of another weekly drama.
If you were never poor, you can’t know what it’s like to be rich. If you were never hungry, you can’t know what it’s like to be satisfied. If you were never sick, you can’t know what it’s like to be healthy. If you were never lost, you can’t know what it’s like to be found.
If you were never a wretch, you can’t understand God’s amazing grace. If you were never blind, you can’t rejoice for finding the Light. If you were never hopeless, you can’t praise God for His mercies that are new every morning. If you were never a slave, you can’t be redeemed. If you were never a sinner, you can’t be saved from your sin.
So many people look at time with Jesus, both in private and in church, as being a waste of time and many more simply don’t take the time. I reckon they were never poor, hungry, sick or lost. And if they were never lost, the bad news is that Jesus never found them.
But what about you? Are you a wretch? Are you blind? Are you hopeless? Are you a slave? Are you a sinner? If that is what you are, then there is good news for you. Come and find Jesus. He’s looking for you.
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:8-10
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10