DAY TWENTY-FOUR | Luke 19:10

The Son of Man has come to seek out and to give life to those who are lost.”

MISSION: SEEK

Luke 19:10 gives us one of the clearest pictures of the purpose behind the incarnation of Jesus of any passage in the Bible. In His own words, Jesus explains that He came to search out and save those who are lost. In the simplest of ways, this is the heart of the gospel.

The statement, right out of the mouth of Jesus, comes at the end of the story of Zacchaeus’s salvation. When we look at all that happened in the encounter that Jesus had with this tax collector as He was walking through town, we see that there was a level of intentionality to the way that Jesus lived out this purpose. As we fix our eyes on Jesus, we will learn many things about His life that will reveal the heart of the Father to us. I pray that we will fully grasp this importance of daily living our lives with a clear sense of mission of sharing God’s love with those who do not know Him.

Honestly, it can be quite easy to grow a relationship with God that becomes centered around the improvement of our own lives. I don’t think anyone starts out with this intention, but as we learn to prioritize biblical principles and see some measure of good results coming out of that, it can almost seem natural to begin looking for other ways to improve our lives in a way that seems spiritual. But this is why it’s important for us to look at the whole life of Jesus to be the source of our operating system.

I remember having a conversation with one of my friends who I have been discipling for the past 10 years. We were discussing the goodness of the Lord, and how easy it is to fall so in love with the blessings of God, that it becomes difficult to willfully lay down our lives to follow Jesus.

We were genuinely surprised and convicted to realize that we had drifted into a place where we valued the comfort and prosperity that comes from seeing His hand work on our behalf. Where was the hunger in our hearts to see the lost come to Jesus? Had we lost our passion to see our own lives refined and continuously transformed by the fire of His Holy Spirit?

The fact is, it is easy for us to forget the glory of the gospel and settle into a good, Christian life, where our primary mission is not messing up. But this is not what we see in the life of Jesus. So regardless of how successful we are at checking all of the religious boxes, if we are missing out on the person of Jesus, we must ask ourselves what gospel are we following?

I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about this over the last few years, because as my parents are getting older, I become more mindful of the beautiful way that the gospel came to my family. While my mom grew up in a respectable family, going to church, and being involved with youth group, it wasn’t until she was late in her teenage years that she gave her life to Jesus. She could’ve easily slipped through the “Christian crack“, with an outward life that looked good enough to get by, but having completely missed a relationship with God. I’m so thankful that she heard and responded to the gospel.

On the other hand, my dad grew up in a family that looked pretty different on the outside. He and his four sisters would occasionally go to church because it was a good way for his parents to have some time alone on a Sunday. My grandfather struggled with alcohol and with anger, and the stories of what it was like for my dad to grow up feel 10,000 miles away from the reality of what I experienced just one generation later.

Growing up, I would hear stories from my dad about the times that he did go to church. He would keep himself busy by counting the ceiling tiles and lightbulbs, or by coloring in the o’s in the church bulletin. He said that he never remembered hearing the gospel of Jesus until one day when he was about 15, he and his sisters were invited to a different church. That day, as he heard about how God had sent His Son to come and pay the penalty for his sin, he gave his life to God.

I obviously was not there to witness this story, but I am so thankful for every detail. There was a man and his wife who pastored a small church not too far from the town that my dad grew up in. They had felt a stirring in their hears to leave that little church, move into town and plant a new church. That church had only been around a few years when someone invited my dad and his sisters to come on a Sunday morning.

These “ragtag” kids didn’t come from a desirable family and had nothing to offer. But that pastor and his wife decided to follow Jesus, and moved into the neighborhood to search out and to reach those who were lost. God did a great work in my dad‘s life and in the life of each one of his sisters. Eventually, my grandmother excepted Jesus as her Savior and became a real mother to many in that church.

That’s where the story stood when I came along. I remember going to church as a family, sitting together, worshiping our Savior together. We spent many years praying that my grandfather would give his life to Jesus. Seemingly despite all odds, my grandfather’s life was transformed by the beautiful, simple, powerful good news of Jesus.

Beautiful. Simple. Powerful. These words are precious to me as I think about how the gospel of our Savior King transformed my dad’s life, and the lives of our whole family. Instead of being born into dysfunction, by God’s grace, I was born into a home where Jesus was loved, honored and worshiped. Instead of growing up in a home where I was afraid of my father’s next outburst, or embarrassed by his drunkenness, I grew up with a mom and dad that have prayed for me every day from before I was born. This is the beautiful, simple, powerful, glorious gospel of Jesus.

He came to seek and save those who were lost. He came for those who had nothing to offer. He gave Himself for those who would reject Him and turn their backs on Him.

This is Jesus, God incarnate living on mission. He is the One that we follow, and let me encourage you that our following of Him can never be complete without following Him intentionally into this area. We can never be co-missioned into His purpose and assignment for our lives if we are not in submission to His mission – to seek and save those who are lost.

I pray that as you spend time looking at the life of Jesus, your heart will begin to hunger to see the good news of His love spread to those around you who do not know Him. I pray that you will be filled with humility and boldness as you step out to share the beautiful, simple, powerful message of what He has done in your life. Fix your eyes on Him, focus your life on His life, and step out to join Him and see the good news of His kingdom spread. Blessings.

JOURNALING QUESTIONS // LINK TO PLAYLIST

Examine – How would you describe what this passage reveals about the life of Jesus?

MindShift – Is there anything about what you read in this passage that challenges the way you think about what it means to follow Jesus?

Prayer Focus – Is there any prayer that you can pray to co-operate with Holy Spirit to see your mind renewed to become more like Jesus?