Lessons from a lost dog: The state of the lost

Some people may not like the term “Lost” when referring to non-Christians.

It seems so archaic and offensive.

It is implying there is something wrong with them, that they need to be found.

But this is how Jesus referred to them, because it is indeed their state. There is something wrong, they need to be found.

See, my puppy didn’t realize she was lost either.

She thought she had found freedom!

She had escaped from those who put her captive on the plane.

But the reality was, she was in a foreign city in a foreign place and she had no resource for food or love or comfort.

She had ran away looking for protection, not realizing those she was running away from- were trying to help her, protect her and reunite her with the ones she loved.

If she had gone with them, she would find what she needed and what she wanted.

If she would come to her senses and realized she needed help, she could have found it.

The non-believing world is like that. They don’t realize they are lost. They think they are safe. They think they found freedom. And they run away from those trying to help them.

They need to be found. They need to be helped. Even if they are rejecting it right now and opposed to it now.

We may not see it either. We may think they look free. They seem happy. But it is not the happiness they truly long for.

My dog was happy to be out of that plane. Happy to be free. But her happiness was not complete, but she was really looking for us.

We need to help people find Jesus. Even if they are running away from us, and running away from Him at the moment.

We may need to help them realize they are lost and need a Savior.

But when they do find Christ, they will find true freedom

It is not just non-Christians who are lost sometimes. We all get lost from time to time. We lose sight of what is important. Or we get lost in our own little world. We get lost in our ambitions, lost in our pride, lost in our pleasures, lost in our self.

In the parable of the prodigal son, there are 2 sons. The father goes out to find both. To run out to his younger son, one who smelled of pig, one who rejcted him- certainly would be scandalous. But to leave his own party to search out the older son would have been scandalous as well.

Both were lost.

One was lost in his pursuit of pleasure and wealth.

The other was lost in his self-righteousness and his effort

Neither was enjoying the father.

Both needed to be found.

How are you lost?

In what way is your heart lost?

Are you looking for pleasure outside of God?

Are you looking to yourself or your performance for your sense of worth

Have you lost focus on Christ?

We all need Jesus. We all need a Savior

Christ goes to the extreme length in giving up His life, so lost may be found. He found His joy in the Father. He found joy in the work on the Cross that would allow many to be saved and God glorified

Lessons from a Lost dog: Seeking the Lost v Finding the Lost

After a night of waiting and a lot of pleading, Soo was finally able to convince them to let me go out in a little van around the lot to call out for the dog.

They assured me people were looking for the dog, so we didn’t need to go. But we wanted to find our dog and felt we were best equipped to find her.

We went thru security and we got into this van, I opened the windows and screamed out for puppy as we went around the perimiter of the airport.

It was hard to tell if she would be able to hear me, and hard to look from a distance and while traveling.

One thing I noticed however was the lack of people looking for the dog. It didn’t look as if anyone was looking for the dog. There were a number of people outside, but none looking around for a dog.

When we finished the search, I mentioned this to them.

“How many people are looking for the dog.”

“Oh, so many people.”

“It doesn’t look like there is anyone looking for the dog.”

“No, everyone is looking for the dog.”

“There are people looking around for her, calling her name?”

“Oh no, but everyone knows there is a small black dog lost.”

What use does this do?

I got angry and animated.

And I tried to express that knowing a dog is lost does nothing to help find the lost dog.

Of course if someone sees a dog on an airport runway they will notify someone.

The thing is, if she was that easy to spot, we would have had already.

She must be hiding.

And if she is hiding, she won’t be found simply by accident. Someone needs to go look for her.

Perhaps you will eventually stumble upon her or she will come out- but we could find her much more quickly if someone was looking.

In fact, she might be right next to you, but if you’re not looking for her, you can’t find her.

It reminded me of the lost around us.

We may expect them to come to Church.

We may expect them to make the first move.

If they want to find God, they can.

We put up posters around campus, a billboard in front of our church, and we expect people to come.

No.

They need to be searched out.

Jesus didn’t come simply to find lost. He came to SEEK and to SAVE the lost.

We need to seek them. We need to go out of our way to find them and bring them into the fold.

The Shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one to bring it back in the flock.

The woman searches diligently to find the lost coin.

We need to do likewise.

If we would do so for 1 sheep, for 1 coin, for a missing dog that we could easily replace. If we would take time looking for a remote control, throwing all the couch cusions everywhere. IF we would get down on all-four to find a contact or a missing road from settlers of catan – can’t we put forth some effort to seek out the lost?

How do we do this?

It is more than a flier or an invitation.

At the very least it is a conversation- but even that is just the bare minimum.

We need to go where they are, we need to enter into their world. We need to first be involved in their activities.

We need to be able to talk about things they enjoy.

We need to think thru ways we can serve them… maybe buying something for them or making them a meal or inviting them over for a meal or party or something.

We need to show love.

We need to take the initiative.

It’s not just about finding the lost, but going out to seek and save the lost.

How can you go and seek out for the lost?

Are you willing to leave your comfortable spot and search for the lost?

Are you willing to put some effort into finding the lost?

Are you willing to leave your own little world in order to enter into the world of people around you?

[puppy post #1] [puppy post #2]