“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” (Luke 19:10 NLT)
How is Jesus seeking the lost today? His whole purpose for living and dying while here on earth was to seek and save the lost. To create a way where no way existed for lost men and women, boys and girls, to find a home in heaven.
It’s estimated that 90% of the 3 million people who live in my city are lost, without hope, facing a Christless eternity. My mentor used to say: “we’re going to love people to Jesus, one person at a time.” If you think about it just in terms of the sheer number of lost people, it can be overwhelming, but if you break it down to “one person at a time,” remarkably, it becomes doable.
Think of Jesus on the Cross. He had preached, prayed, healed, delivered, forgiven, and loved thousands of people, and now He hung on the Cross with moments left to live – but He’s not finished! One of the two being crucified beside Him said: “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom” Some of us, had we been in Jesus’ place, might have said: “You’ve waited too long, leave me alone. Let me die in peace.” But not Jesus! Jesus said: “I assure you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”
Do we not realize that some of those we thoughtlessly pass by on the streets of our communities, or sit with in waiting rooms, or eat near us in restaurants – are we blind to their need of a Savior? Are we too deaf to hear the cries of their heart? Are we so tuned in to our own needs we can’t see the needs of others?
Jen Wilkin wrote: “We must love God with our minds, allowing our intellect to inform our emotions, rather than the other way around.” When we allow our emotions to believe there are just too many lost people, “there’s nothing I can do!” we negate the purpose for which the Lord gave us life. As a Jesus follower our whole purpose on earth is to serve the desires of our Master.
And, yes, of course, He may not have called all of us to be a Billy Graham, or a C.S. Lewis, but He’s called each of us to have a heart for the lost in our spheres of influence. Maybe we won’t win hundreds or thousands to Jesus, but can we win one? Can we influence one life to miss hell and to choose heaven?
Ron Hutchcraft wrote: “Mike said he hadn’t seen all those people going to hell for a long time until his daughter helped him put on Jesus’ glasses. Maybe you haven’t seen them either and they’re all around you. God describes the people you know who don’t belong to Jesus with words like these out of the Bible: they are “being led away to death” (Proverbs 24:11)… they are “separated from God” (Isaiah 59:2)… they are “lost” (Luke 19:10)… they are, the Bible says, “condemned already”… they will be “punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). This isn’t just some theological concept.
This is someone you know, people Jesus died for so they could be rescued from all this; people who may never know Jesus unless you introduce them to Him. He has divinely positioned you in their life to be their rescuer, to be their chance at Jesus, to be their chance at heaven.”
Once you see what Jesus sees, you’ll rescue the dying whatever it takes and whatever it costs! And you’ll look in the mirror and say, ‘I am someone’s chance.'”
This isn’t about guilt, it’s about opportunity. Would you allow this chorus by B. B. McKinney to become your prayer today? “Lord lay some soul upon my heart, and love that soul through me. And may I nobly do my part to win that soul for Thee.”
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 