"For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost."
Matthew 18:11
I like the idea of Christ saving that which was lost. I wonder though who we think that is. We call Christ our Savior, but I don't think we always feel the impact of what that means, or what we would be without him. Not that we need to be depressed about it of course, but I think it affects our thankfulness and awe and humility a little bit when we take time to recognize that we *were* lost, and could never have been found and returned to God without his sacrifice.
When we read some of the parables about the workers in the field, the lost sheep, the prodigal son, the wise and foolish virgins, and many others, I think we very often place ourselves into the stories in the awesome parts with the best lines--as the ones who stayed close to God. We shake our heads at those foolish ones or the lucky ones who didn't work much. However, I think it is much more accurate to picture ourselves as the ones who have gone astray in those stories. We are the ones who need that extra oil and don't have it. We are the ones who wasted our inheritance with riotous living. We are the ones who only worked an hour in the vineyard. And God finds us and helps us all anyway. He tells us, like the woman taken in adultery, to go and sin no more, and he saves us from the worst part of ourselves.
That's what this life is... the second and third and nine hundredth chances that we desperately need in order to make good. It is Christ, reaching down and setting us back on our feet and brushing us off... helping us to find a better way. Today, let's remember that *we* are the lost. Let's apply the scriptures to ourselves rather than to someone else. Let's improve ourselves rather than worrying about how someone else needs to improve. Let's heed Christ's call and reach out so that he can lift us up and save us, because we definitely need it. :)
Matthew 18:11
I like the idea of Christ saving that which was lost. I wonder though who we think that is. We call Christ our Savior, but I don't think we always feel the impact of what that means, or what we would be without him. Not that we need to be depressed about it of course, but I think it affects our thankfulness and awe and humility a little bit when we take time to recognize that we *were* lost, and could never have been found and returned to God without his sacrifice.
When we read some of the parables about the workers in the field, the lost sheep, the prodigal son, the wise and foolish virgins, and many others, I think we very often place ourselves into the stories in the awesome parts with the best lines--as the ones who stayed close to God. We shake our heads at those foolish ones or the lucky ones who didn't work much. However, I think it is much more accurate to picture ourselves as the ones who have gone astray in those stories. We are the ones who need that extra oil and don't have it. We are the ones who wasted our inheritance with riotous living. We are the ones who only worked an hour in the vineyard. And God finds us and helps us all anyway. He tells us, like the woman taken in adultery, to go and sin no more, and he saves us from the worst part of ourselves.
That's what this life is... the second and third and nine hundredth chances that we desperately need in order to make good. It is Christ, reaching down and setting us back on our feet and brushing us off... helping us to find a better way. Today, let's remember that *we* are the lost. Let's apply the scriptures to ourselves rather than to someone else. Let's improve ourselves rather than worrying about how someone else needs to improve. Let's heed Christ's call and reach out so that he can lift us up and save us, because we definitely need it. :)
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