Go After the Lost
I’m sure we’re all familiar with the parable of the prodigal son. We read of a son who wanted his inheritance early, only to lose it all in loose and foolish living.
The point of the parable is that God goes after the lost. The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin that come immediately before the lost son in Luke 15 all illustrate the same thing. Luke put the three together to drive home the point.
It’s part of our fallenness, even as Christians, to criticise the backslider, to denigrate those who no longer walk with God in the way we think right. God doesn’t criticise them. He doesn’t pour out His judgemental fury upon them. He goes after them. His love doesn’t let Him act like we too often have. God keeps working with them, trying to woo them back to Himself.
We can work with God as His instrument, or find ourselves working against Him. If we stand aloof and criticise, we stand against Him. If we go after the fallen, we become His instrument for healing.
Sometimes the backslider doesn’t want to come back. That’s between them and God. Our part is to have God’s heart, and be His hands and feet.
Will you do that?
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