A Reflection On Caring For The Lost

When I need to tell others about Jesus

Think of the odd assortment of people to whom Jesus was drawn. A dishonest tax collector, a prostitute, an adulteress, beggars, lepers, and just about everyone else who had no legitimate case to make about their own righteousness and well-being. They knew they needed help.

If our identity is in Jesus, and His Spirit is living in us, we will be drawn to others as He was. We will be brokenhearted about those who suffer in sinful, diseased conditions just as He was—and is—brokenhearted. Our zeal to bring His redemption into a captive world will in some way reflect His zeal. It will be a diagnostic measure of the reality of our union with Him.

The knee-jerk reaction to the imperative of seeking and saving the lost is to try to cultivate a desire to do so. Resist the urge. Be aware of the need, but respond by cultivating your union with Jesus. You cannot muster up the appropriate zeal, but fellowship with His Spirit will make His agenda contagious to you and those around you. Let His mission become yours.

The Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.

Luke 19:10