Day of Praise

Th, 08/29/13, "Day of Praise"

"[Jesus said,] 'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.'" - Luke 19:10

I'm gonna' tell ya' a story here in a minute, but first we need to ask a question: What do "the lost" look like?

First, let's look at God's answer in the first part of Ezekiel 34:16 where the Lord says, "I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak." So, God says that the lost look strayed, injured, and weak.

Ok, so I'm driving back to Birmingham from a less-than-24-hour whirlwind drive to Tennessee for my Dad's "Praise the Lord" successful heart surgery. I was sleepy so I kept stopping at almost every exit that had a gas station, even the ones in the middle of nowhere that are almost overtaken by the woods.

So I pull into one of these "in the middle of nowhere that are almost overtaken by the woods" gas stations. And there's but one other car at the pumps which I pull behind.

I've barely gotten one foot out of the car when this elderly lady with bottle thick glasses asks if I can help her pump her gas, and I think to myself, "this is what 'the lost' look like."

Now take my word that, though it's hard to mess up pumping gas, this little lady had made a mess, and I think to myself, "this is what 'the lost' look like," not to mention that I'm wondering how she got this far from Ohio, based on the license plate.

Then, the dear lady starts talking to the gas pump, telling it, as if it were a human being, that she wanted a receipt, so I told her that would be at the end, and I'm really thinking, "this is what 'the lost' look like," especially since, with every ad for a hot dog or soda that pops on the screen, she gets on her tiptoes and squints and says to the gas pump, "yes, I want a receipt."

Well, finally, her tank's full and we get her receipt, so then she turns and starts talking to the other person in the car as I turn to go in to use the restroom. When I finally come out, she's still talking to the other person in the car, so I decided I'd ask their names before I left. I held out my hand and met Charlotte, and I asked to meet her friend, to which Charlotte responds, "oh, it's only me." So, I smile, wish her God's blessings, and take the long way around her car. And sure enough, there's nobody else in that car. And I think to myself, "this is what 'the lost' look like."

And I think to myself, "I sure hope when the day comes that I'm lost and look strayed, injured, and weak, I sure hope that people are nice to me."

And Jesus spoke to my heart and said, "I already was, and I promise that I will be."

"[Jesus said,] 'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.'" - Luke 19:10

Think about it.

Praise God!

(For an archive of "Day of Praise", please visit my daughter Calley's website at http://dayofpraisepc.blogspot.com/?m=1)

Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson