I see posts on my neighborhood social media groups all the time where people are either looking for a lost pet, or letting everyone know that they found a lost pet.
When you are the pet owner who discovers that your dog or cat is lost, your stress hormones kick in, you drop what you’re doing and you go searching and calling and posting online and asking neighbors if they’ve seen your pet.
Do you feel the same way about people who are lost spiritually?
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it” (Luke 15:4)?
It’s easy to say that those lost without faith in Jesus are the church’s responsibility or God’s responsibility. No. God wants your stress hormones to kick in and wants you to take greater responsibility for those who are lost.
Christians can show greater concern and take greater responsibility for lost or homeless pets than for people lost in this life without Jesus and headed for hell.
Know what that means? We’re the ones who are lost. Lost in selfish thinking. Lost from Jesus’ mission “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Now, understand this: Jesus goes after you and finds you. He searches for you, thinks about you, and welcomes you.
Jesus doesn’t wait for you to come to him. He comes to you. Jesus left heaven to rescue you. Now, Jesus’ mission continues when the found find those who are lost, the rescued become rescuers, and the sheep become shepherds
Here is the rest of Jesus’ story about the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to search for the one lost sheep: “When he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep’” (Luke 15:5,6).
This is how Jesus feels about finding you. Joy! And for us, it’s likewise a thrill when we find pets or people who were lost but are found.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I can be more concerned about lost pets than lost people who don’t believe in you. Just as you taught about leaving the ninety-nine sheep to find the one, I pray for more passion and accepting greater risk, so that others might be saved. Amen.
DISCUSS: Agree or Disagree—Unbelievers lost without faith need Jesus more than believers already found by grace.