By Denys Blackmore
The woman’s voice quivered with intensity: “My child is missing! Please, please help me find her!”
Perhaps no other experience raises such a sense of panic and an urgency to respond. When a mother or father realizes that a child is missing, all of life shifts into another gear. The family, the neighborhood, the community and sometimes an entire city are affected. Other plans are put on hold as energies redirect to the singular, pressing need to find the lost child.
When a child is lost, no expense is spared. Emergency systems are mobilized, media are notified, search parties are organized, and every possible lead is pursued relentlessly. And this is exactly as it should be, for nothing is more valuable than a human life.
The relentless pursuit of something that is lost is a natural, God-inspired behavior. I was prompted to think about this when my pastor taught recently from Luke 15 on the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. Think about those examples that Jesus taught to His disciples…
The Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7). To the shepherd, the one lost sheep represented one percent of the flock. Seemingly insignificant to us today, but of great material value to a shepherd in the first century.
The Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10). The single lost coin represented ten percent of the woman’s holdings, and its loss would have deep and negative consequences for her. The Lost Son (Luke 15:11-31). The lost son—the prodigal who was fully responsible for his own lostness—had brought shame to his family and heartache to his father. But his misbehaviour didn’t change the fact of his lost condition. When at last he returns home, expecting the worst, the father receives him with extravagant love. Why? In the father’s own words: “We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.”
In each of these three parables, something of high esteem and value was lost. And in each case, an all-out effort was made to find and recover. And when the lost was found, when recovery was made, a celebration followed. Jesus compared these examples to the celebration that happens in heaven when someone turns to Christ. He said, “In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” And, like the father of the prodigal son, our Heavenly Father lovingly welcomes, forgives and restores every lost child who comes back to Him.
Some things are of such value that when they are lost it motivates an all-out pursuit. The degree of value determines the commitment to the pursuit. And of all that we can cherish, nothing compares to the value of a human life. In our nation are millions of lost people. Not lost in the sense that they can’t be located physically but lost in the sense that they are spiritually separated from God and desperately need to be “found” in Him. In our world there are billions of such people.
Jesus said that He came to earth to seek and to save that which was lost. He has sent each one of us on a mission to guide those lost sheep back to His fold. EHC’s worldwide team of workers is wholeheartedly committed to this priority—every day seeking out the lost and providing them with the only truth that transforms one from lost to found, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thousands every day and millions every year are hearing that message and responding in faith. I can’t even begin to imagine the rejoicing that is happening in heaven as these precious souls are redeemed.
Imagine the impact if the church in our nation was consistently organizing search and rescue missions to reach every lost person in their community, province and region. May God stir us to care and move us to act!
Thanks for your part in this pursuit. May God help us to be sensitive to and steward our lives by valuing most what He values most—human beings created in His image and waiting to be rescued and restored by His indescribable love.