Lost Or Confused
Daniel Boone explored the great wilderness of Tennessee and Kentucky. It was Boone who marked the wilderness road that brought settlers into the new land. He often wandered over vast areas of forest, living off the land and dodging arrows. Once he was asked if he had ever been lost. He replied, “No.” But he did admit that he was “a mite confused once for about three or four days though!”
Perhaps it matters little that Boone’s pride would not allow him to admit that he’d ever been lost, in need of guidance. It matters a lot, however, if our pride keeps us from admitting that we are lost without Christ.
"I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture" (John 10:9).
"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted" (Matthew 23:12).
Everyone Wants A Winner
An army general went to lunch one day and ordered a broiled lobster. When the lobster was served minus a claw, the general summoned the waiter to complain. The waiter responded: "General, let me explain. This is a broiled lobster just like you ordered, but what you must understand is that the lobsters are kept live in a holding tank. They often fight and sometimes lose a claw." To this the general thundered back, "Then bring me a winner!"
Everyone wants a winner. Aren't you glad God accepts losers?
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst" (1 Timothy 1:15).
Missing Woman Doesn't Know She's Lost
A few weeks ago, it was reported that a tourist had gone missing from an Icelandic bus tour, resulting in a frantic search involving more than 50 rescuers on foot and by air.
It all started when, according to CBS News:
"The woman broke off from her tourist group and changed clothes ... When she returned to the bus in a different outfit, the rest of her tour group did not recognize her. Then when a description of the 'missing person' was offered - Asian, in dark clothing and speaks English well - the woman seemingly also did not recognize the description as of herself, so she began to assist the others in searching. ... Hours later, around 3 a.m. Sunday, the search party finally realized that, alas, the woman they were looking for was with them all along, and the search was called off.
Chief of police in Hvolsvöllur Sveinn K. Rúnarsson told Iceland news that the woman simply didn't recognize the description of herself, and "had no idea that she was missing."
Here is our problem; the Bible describes us as spiritually lost and separated from God, but we fail to recognize ourselves in the description. The result is that we have no idea that we're lost.
Truth is, we humans are all a rather thick-headed lot who don't readily recognize ourselves in the description of a sinner in need of salvation. Only through the light of humility can our blind eyes finally see how desperate our situation really is. Once we finally see ourselves in the pages of Scripture, the search can be called off. One of God's lost sheep has been found and returned to the fold!
"All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own" (Isaiah 53:6).
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And 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.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."(Luke 15:4-7, cf. Matthew 18:12).