Hard Truth – The Found are Left

The found are left.  On a certain level anything that is lost was at one point “found”, right?  This point of logic matters spiritually because of how we look at the world around us.  Where do you see yourself?  Are you found or lost?  Anyone who knows Jesus, knows they are not lost.  I don’t think any Christian wakes up one morning and decides to “get lost”.  Slowly we can wander away.

After a few steps down the stream we still knew where we were.  We weren’t lost yet; the camp site was just a little ways back.  We had walked from the camp through the woods for a few minutes and then we followed the stream.  But on the way back up stream, something was wrong.  We walked a short distance back through the wood, but we knew right away it wasn’t the way to the camp.  But we weren’t lost, because we could just walk back to the stream.  We knew exactly where we were – right by the stream, but we couldn’t make it home.

I don’t think anyone intentionally gets lost.  There is a bumper sticker that I don’t care for.  It says, “Not all those who wander are lost.”  The quote is from Tolkien, a wonderful Christian author.  I’ll say in our day – MOST of the people wandering are lost.  They may have convinced themselves that the walk away from their spiritual home was fun.  Think of the adventure they are having!  But they are lost.

Jesus addresses this group at the start of Luke 15 when he speaks to the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law.  They saw the world as black and white – there are sinners, and then there are the righteous.  There are those who need to repent, and there are those who do not need to repent.  Jesus picks up on this as he begins his parables.  Which camp do you find yourself in?  The truth is that you and I are both.

Want to hear more?  Watch this Sunday’s message taken from the Lost Chapter of the Bible, Luke 15 – The Found are Left.