Tuesday, May 28, 2013
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"We have a little boy here!" That was the announcement we heard when we were down on the boardwalk at the New Jersey shore. We'd been biking along the boardwalk, and it was a great sunny day; thousands of people were milling around the boardwalk. Then came that announcement over the sound system; you could hear it all down the boardwalk. "We have a little boy here who seems to be lost. He's about five years old. He's wearing red shorts and holding a little red truck." All of a sudden my bike ride wasn't as cheerful as it had been. I began to wonder why they didn't at least give out his name. I found out later it was because he was crying so hard he couldn't give it!
Twenty-five minutes later I came back down the boardwalk on my bike. They were still making the announcement, "We have a little boy here who seems to be lost!" Well, I had to leave before I heard the final outcome and man, I've got to tell you, I felt bad for that little guy, feeling so lost and alone. Actually, there's some of that little boy in you and me.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Lost and Found."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 19:10. Jesus himself is speaking. He says of Himself, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost." Now, that's a word the Bible uses to describe you and me quite often-lost. No matter how religious you are, no matter how respected, no matter how powerful, no matter how intelligent you are, you are L O S T like that little boy on the boardwalk-lost. You say, "Well, how do you know all of us are, Ron?"
In Isaiah 53:4, it says, "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows." And it goes on to say in verse 6, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray." "We all" is what God says. "Each of us has turned to our own way." In a lot of ways we're like that little boy. First of all, I don't think you mean to get away from your father. I'm sure that little boy didn't mean to get lost. Few of us have deliberately said, "I need to get away from God." We just keep making choices, taking steps that ease Him out. He ends up on the margins of our life instead of in the center where the Creator of us belongs. We end up with a wall of sin between God and us. Maybe you can tell that. You know there's a wall between you and God; you can feel it.
Some people, like that lost little boy, at first don't know they're lost. They're just enjoying the boardwalk; it's fun, it's exciting. Then you realize how empty you are, how alone you are. Often it's late at night or when a person or a dream comes to mind. Even if you get what you wanted, you still feel empty. But that haunting voice says, "Someone's missing" and you don't know how to find Him.
I'm afraid after being lost, by the time you realize you're lost, you don't know how to find your Father. "How did I get this far from God? How can I find Him?" Well, like that little boy, your only hope of getting home is if your Father comes looking for you. And He did! The Bible says, "Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost." See, Jesus is God come looking for you. He had to go all the way to the cross to do it though. It says, "The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity (or the wrong doing) of us all." That's the end of the verse that says "we all wandered away." He took all the payment for all my wandering and yours. And He's seeking you right now through this visit. What if that little boy's father finds him and the little boy says, "Go away!" I can't imagine that! Think how many of us have done that to God.
He's come to you; He's knocking on the door of your life and maybe you've said, "Not now. Go away, Father. Not today." Hasn't it been too long you've been away from the love only the Father can give you, the peace, the security, the forgiveness, the heaven only He can give you? He's coming to you today. Reach out and say, "Daddy, take me home. Bring me home to a relationship with You," as only He can through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Our whole reason for our website is to help you be sure you belong to Him. Go there today, please - YoursForLife.net - and let this be the day you go from lost to found.