Lost!

By Chaplain (Col) Stephen W. Leonard, USA, Ret.

How is “lost” defined? What exactly does “the lost” mean? Almost all of those in this category, when asked if they are “lost,” would say, “Absolutely not.” Or they might say, “What do you mean by lost? I do not consider myself lost!”

There is an excerpt in Ray Comfort’s Evidence Study Bible which gives a good definition of “lost”:

There is one thing worse than being lost. It is being lost and not knowing it. Perhaps that describes you. Let’s find out by asking three searching questions.

The first is, do you know the origin of the species of which you are a part? If you don’t accept the Genesis explanation for our origins, the odds are you don’t have any idea where humans came from.

The second question is, What is the purpose of human existence? Why are you here? If you don’t accept the biblical explanation for mankind‘s purpose (that we are created by God for God), then you will have no idea why you are here.

Third question, where are you going? In other words, what happens after death? More than likely, you will be confined to the arena of speculation. You don’t know what eternity holds for you. The best you have is a guess —a stab in the dark.

So, there you have it, you don’t know where you came from, you don’t know what you are doing here, and you don’t know where you are going. You are “lost,” as the Bible says. You are like a sheep that has gone astray, and the Scriptures tell us that the Good Shepherd came to seek and save that which was lost.

So many in our world are lost. They are like a sheep without a shepherd. They have no certain answers to the three questions: why, what, and where. If you have a sure answer for these questions in your own heart and mind, you have a mandate to seek those who are lost. If you KNOW Jesus is your Savior, you must point the lost to Him.

You do not have to worry about what you will do after clearly pointing the lost to Jesus. He does the saving once you have brought them to the foot of His cross.

You can pray for them to look up into His eyes, as the thief next to Him on a cross. You can pray for them to want to be saved. You can pray for them to yearn for His arms. And if so, the Redeemer never turns them away. “Come unto me all you who are weary, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.

The lost can be found. But if they do not know they are lost, they will not know they need finding! They often need you, a follower of the Lamb, to point them in the right direction. This is every Christian’s calling, pointing the lost to Jesus Christ.

Like Jesus said at the age of 12 to His mother after He was missing from them for a matter of days, “Didn’t you know, I must be about my Father’s business!” So you also must be about your Father’s business, which is most importantly, pointing the lost to His Son.

Encouragement