A Pause to Ponder God's Word
"A Seeking Savior"

In Luke chapter 15 Jesus tells three parables back to back. They are most commonly known as The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Prodigal or Lost Son. These parables were told in response to some religious leaders' grumbling about Jesus associating with sinners. Jesus wanted to be sure that they would get the point, so He told three parables back to back to emphasized His point. When all was said and done the religious leaders could not have missed their identification with the elder son in the last story.

We cannot read these parables unemotionally. They grab our attention and grip our hearts. We tend to focus on the lost items in the stories. Notice the names we give them. Why do we do this? Because we understand and identify with being lost, at least we should. But the incredible thing in these stories is not that the items are lost, but the diligence and determination with which the seekers seek the lost. The shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to search for one! The woman isn't satisfied with the fact that she still has none coins, but tears the house apart until she finds the one lost coin! The father watches down the road everyday for his son to appear, and when the boy does appear and is still "a long way off" the father runs to the boy! This is astonishing, amazing. We cannot help but see that the seekers were not going to give up until the lost was found.

We must never forget that God has sought us. He took the initiative. He came to us. While we were yet sinners Christ came. He knew we were so lost and blind that we would never turn to Him. So in infinite love and boundless grace He came to us. He sought us out. This is the first and foremost aspect of these parables - God is a seeking, saving God! Jesus makes this point abundantly clear while dining at Zacchaeus' house. Responding once again to grumblers Jesus shouts out for all to hear, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what is lost!" Hallelujah, God is a seeking, saving God and He has sought and saved us.

All false religions give methods and procedures for their adherents to follow in order to find God. He is not the one who needs to be found, we are. All human efforts to find God are wasted effort, but for God's gracious seeking. One song writer put it this way: "He was there all the time. He was there all the time." Let us not forget, we would still be lost and blind had not God taken the initiative to seek and save us.

Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry


A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene. These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety without permission for nonprofit purposes only. Responses welcome. To Subscribe Click Here.
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