The Search

Luke 15:4 – Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? (NIV)

Twenty people in our little town were searching. Two hours had passed. The bush was thick. The paths were many. The chill of night crept closer. Would the elderly gentleman who had wandered away from his home be found in time?

Fortunately, the answer was yes.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 – Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (NIV)

Jesus is coming again — fact or fiction? For many, this biblical fact has become a myth, no longer believable. But what do you say? If the answer is "fact", then are you searching? Am I searching? Are we searching for the lost? Are we praying for the wanderers with diligence? Are we putting ourselves on the line, taking the opportunity to share the love of Christ and His promise of return, even though we may end up being alienated, humiliated, or ridiculed, or appearing foolish, ignorant, irrelevant, or pushy? If so, then we are in good company, that of Christ!

Matthew 27:27-31 – Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. (NIV)

The chill of eternal night is creeping ever closer for the lost and wandering, though many who consider themselves wise are saying "Peace and safety; it's only a myth." Let us, therefore, as servants of the living Lord and believers of truth, be diligent searchers. Let us be willing to humble ourselves, putting it all on the line for Christ, just as He did for us, that eternal night may be transformed into eternal light and life, and that the lost may indeed be found.

Prayer: Father God, thank You for Jesus, Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with You something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross for us! In Christ's wonderful name, we pray. Amen.

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