January 14

Lost And Found
 
“Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!”
Luke 15:6b

Our prayer life is incomplete without intercession for the lost.  Such intercession is moved not simply by the fact that there are so many who are lost, but on the utter helplessness of those who are lost.  A lost sheep is helpless to find its way back to the fold.  A lost coin has no capacity to find its way back into its owner’s hands.  A lost son is powerless to find his way home.  It seems like far too often we wonder why the lost cannot simply move forward and accept truth and love that is offered to them.  We forget, though, the extent of their lostness.  How can they go forward when they don’t know which way they’re facing?  How can they go forward when they don’t know which way to turn?  They cannot go forward.  They cannot find themselves.  They must be found.  The sheep needs a good shepherd who will leave the 99 to find it.  The coin needs that woman who will clean the entire house from top to bottom to find it.  The son needs that father who will see him coming from a great distance because he himself has been looking for him.  Our call is not to tell the lost that they need to find themselves; our call is to point them to the searching Father, the Good Shepherd.  Our call is to be they eyes and feet of the One who searches, so that the lost may be found.  Our call, as those who have been found, is to walk alongside the lost and show them the way that we have been shown.  The lost are ultimately helpless.  We must show them where their help is coming from, so that all who are lost can be found.