To seek and to save

Luke 19:10

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Before us today is one of the simplest and yet most powerful verses in the Bible. For it tells us in detail what is the mission of the Son of Man. Why did He come? For what purpose was His advent to this earth? Why did He tabernacle among the inhabitants of this planet for three decades? Was it to reign? Was it to show something great? Was it to garner the love of this world? By no means! For you see, our Lord did not come for His own purposes, but to seek and to save that which was lost. To seek! Our Lord could have sat on His throne, and conducted His business from an armed chair. But we know that this was by no means His method. He walked among men. He covered many dozens of miles on foot. He went to the downtrodden, the lowly, and the outcasts. A bruised reed would He not break, and smoking flax would He not quench. He did not strive nor cry; His voice was not to be heard in the streets. He was a root out of a dry ground. He sprung up to bring light to those that dwelt in darkness. And, make no mistake about it, He walked directly into the caverns of darkness and into the caves of sin to meet those who had no light, no hope, and no security. He came to liberate them. To give sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that were bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord! And all this He did as a vagabond, tramping from place to place, with no certain dwelling place. He had not a place to lay His head, no repose for His weary soul, except nights alone with His Father. He went up and down the breadth of the hills, and traversed the deserts of Judaea, to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and free from the bondage of sin and the clutches of Satan those that were held captive at the Devil’s will. He did not wait for them to come to Him. He went to them whatever the cost. This my Savior came to seek the lost!

But He also came to save the lost. For no one else could do this. No other could save from sin those that were destined to eternal doom without salvation. But Christ saved them. He came to die on a cross and provide salvation for all. He was born in order that He may die. He humbled Himself in order that He may become one of us, of no reputation, being found in fashion as we are. He came to save us! After He had gone to great lengths to seek the sinner, and to bring the sinner to Himself, He forever saves them by bestowing His cleansing and forgiveness. He came to seek and to save all! Thank God I am saved! Praise Him this day! If you are saved, you have no reason to pout, and very reason to shout! You have no reason to be without hope, and every reason to be full of hope! For He has saved your soul!

And now, my dear friend, as we have found what the Lord’s mission is, what mission are we engaged in? His mission is to seek the lost. Are we seeking the lost? His mission was to save the lost. Are we eternally engaged and involved in the bringing of souls to the Savior? After all, there is no greater work in which we could be entrenched. No greater labor with which we could be invested. For this is the work of the Savior. To seek and to save the lost! Has someone sought you? Has the Lord sought you? Seek others! Tell them of the Savior, and His power to free from the power of sin, death, and Hell. This is what our Lord did, and we must engage ourselves in the same task. He came to seek and to save that which was lost!

“Father, we thank you for sending your Son, and for the mission He accomplished. He has sought us. He has saved us. Help us to be ever conscious of the lost about us who need the knowledge of Christ. Help us to seek them! Help us to bring them to Christ to be saved! None of this can be done without you. But we know that Thou hast sent the Holy Spirit, and hast promised that He would be with us for ever, even unto the end of the world. We trust in your aid today. Help us to seek and to save that which was lost. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”