THE STORY OF JESUS: Matthew 18:11-14
“Will he not leave the ninety-nine to look for the one that wandered off?” (18:12)
I recently renewed my commitment to serve Jesus with my life.
This means that His purpose becomes mine, and where He sends me, I go.
The Lord does not usually spell out specifically where and how He wants me to go.
But he has shown me by His example what His values and priorities were.
Jesus loves His disciples for sure, but He has other sheep too, lost sheep.
He came to seek and to save the lost, not just to keep the saved comfortable.
In fact, once saved, He wants the saved to seek and to save the lost too.
Too often churches become places where the saved are served.
Not only pastors, but all Jesus-followers need to head out to Starbucks.
Or wherever the people are who need to experience the life-changing love of Jesus.
If you are a Jesus-follower, where are you looking for those that have wandered?
He hasn’t called us to wait for the lost to come to us – He’s sent us out!
Do I have a heart for the lost and the least, is it reflected in where I spend my time?
Am I too busy with church activity, that I neglect the kingdom mission?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, may we the 99 join You in the places where the lost sheep hang out, and may we rejoice when the lost ones become found! May this be the spirit of our church!!!
Heck yes!
I was literally holding a Starbucks drink in my hand when I read this, this morning!
I was like whoa no pun intended much!
I agree with this a hundred and ten percent. This outlook on things. A friend of mine also tends to feel this way and has his heart set on missions, mainly in Africa for months at a time because he feels that is where God is calling him to be. That is also my desire. To go after the lost sheep, the hurting souls, the ones who have no clue about Jesus. If we are already saved, and know we are His. We should be at least willing to take a step of faith, of going out into the world and expressing it instead of sitting comfortably waiting for the pastor to change things. And this may mean baby steps, or may mean big steps of faith of going places that only God’s wisdom and grace would become sufficient enough! I pray continuously that I don’t look for ways to be served on my behalf. We always tend to think, “What’s in it for me?” And it’s really…”What’s in it for Him?”