Love for the Lost

Luke 15:1-32

Jesus stated severally while he was on earth that he was sent to save those who are lost (They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick - Luke 5:31). He associated freely with everyone including tax collectors and other notorious sinners who often came to listen to him teach. This did not go down well with the Pharisees and teachers of religious law, they regarded such people as despicable sinners and felt they should be avoided, and that someone like Jesus should not be seen with the likes of such.

Many believers have unconsciously found themselves thinking like the Pharisees. We term sinners as undesirable and contemptible people sometimes subconsciously because we feel we're better than they are or that we have sinned way less than they have. Sin is sin, and Jesus came to die for SINNERS, those who we consider as lost.

"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost." Luke 19:10 (KJV)

Jesus buttressed this point when he told three parables;

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Luke 15: 4-7

He likened the kingdom of heaven to that of one who had a hundred sheep, and if one of the sheep strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, he would leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until he found. He would carry it home and he would call his friends and neighbours to rejoice with him because the lost sheep was found. So also heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

Luke 15: 8-10

Jesus told another parable of a woman who has ten valuable silver coins and loses one. She would light a lamp, look in every corner of her house and sweep every nook and cranny until she finds it. When she finds it, she would call in her friends and neighbours to rejoice with her because she has found her lost coin. In the same way there is joy in the presence of God's angels when one sinner repents.

The Parable of the Lost Son

Luke 15: 11-32

Jesus told the story of a man who had two sons. The younger son told the father he wanted his share of his estate now instead of waiting until his father's death. So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. The younger son packed his belongings a few days later and took a trip to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money on wild living. About the time his money ran out, there was a great famine in the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. The boy became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

When he finally came to his senses, he decided to go home to his father to beg for forgiveness with the hope that even though he was no longer worthy to be called his son, his father would accept him as a servant.

So he returned home to his father. And when his father saw him coming from a distance, he was filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son."

But his father told the servants to bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him, he also told them to bring him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. He told them to kill the fattest calf for he wanted to celebrate with a feast the return of his son.

" For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to merry." Luke 15:24 (KJV)

When the older son who had been working in the fields returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and asked one of the servants what was going on. The servant told him the reason for the celebration was the safe return of his lost brother. The older brother was angry and would not go in. His father came out and begged him, but he was upset that he had served his father faithfully for many years and he had never been given even one young goat for a feast with his friends, yet when his brother came back after squandering his inheritance, his father threw a feast.

And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found." Luke 15: 31-32 (KJV)

God's Love is Accessible to Us All

When a person decides to live their life outside God's word, God does not give up on them and neither should we. His love is unconditional and never ending. As long as that person is still breathing, there is hope for salvation. Jesus had a mission while he was on earth, and that mission was to lay down his life for the salvation of mankind. He came to die for us while we were yet sinners.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." John 3: 16-17 (KJV)

God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn it, but to save it. Just like the shepherd who went through the painstaking length to bring back one lost sheep, like the woman who ransacked every nook and cranny in her house to find one lost coin, and like the father who rejoiced at the return of his son who had lived recklessly, so does God reach out to those who have strayed from the path of righteousness and have delved into sin.

The enemy wants you to feel dirty, unclean, ashamed and unlovable but that's not true. He wants you to remain forever in darkness, but Jesus came to bring you back into the light of God's word, into the loving arms of his Father. Heaven rejoices over the repentance of every lost soul. So no matter what you think you've done in the past, no matter the gravity of the guilt you carry or the shame of what you've done, know that God loves you and He is reaching out to you. He will never leave you, he will go through lengths to find you, accept him into your heart today and he will receive you with love and joy.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus to die for my sins. Thank you for loving me while I was yet a sinner, thank you for the free gift of salvation, thank you for your mercy and your love ever towards me. In Jesus Name, Amen.