Good Morning All,
Luke 19:10; “Indeed, the Son of
Man has come to seek and to save people who are lost”
A number of years ago, there was a movie
called “Runaway Bride.” It starred Julia
Roberts and Richard Gere. The gist of the story was about Richard Gere being a
journalist who was on the bad list of his editor and sent off on some sappy
story about a girl who always ran away from her weddings. Julia Roberts played
the girl and ran away from many weddings; she even started showing up in
sneakers. Eventually love conquered and they married, and she did not run.
Many of us are runaway brides. We run every
time we can. Even if we do not run, we may feel like it. This is one of the
little tactics that the devil uses on us. He tries to get us to run from God
and from the relationships that he gives us. The devil tries to separate us
from God, and he tries this by getting us to run. When you look at stories of
youth who run away, they always see it as the answer, and it never is. They
think that getting away from the ones that love them will make it so much
easier. What they find is that pain, trouble, and deeper despair.
We are the same way. We run from God; we
run away from his love. We think that what we have or know is far better to
anything which God has so we run away from God. We hide from God. When we think
of a small child who tries to hide from their parents by covering his eyes,
thinking that if he cannot see his parents then they cannot see him. This is
how God looks at us when we try to hide from him. We are still in plain sight
even if we think we have hidden well.
Many in the Bible tried to hide. Jonah
tried to hide. Moses tried to hide. Elijah tried to hide. David tried to hide. We
are in pretty good company when we try to hide. We all try to run and hide. Some
of us run to self-help books; some of us run to the “false prophets” of our
day: the talk show hosts and the self-proclaimed “experts.” Some of us run to drugs and alcohol. Some of
us run to a life of bad decisions, often compounded by even worse ones. We run
like the wind; we think but we only run as far as the nearest mud hole where we
fall in and wallow.
This is why Jesus came to do his earthly
ministry; to seek the lost and then save them.
He continues to do this today. Jesus seeks you in all the mud holes and
wallows and pulls us out with his merciful love. He washes us and feeds us and
then comforts us with his love. Jesus never stops seeking us; no matter how
many times we run; he just keeps coming. So, if you think you are so lost you
cannot be found; just take your hands away from your eyes. If a loved one seems to just run and run;
keep praying and reaching out; Jesus is seeking them as well. Trust in God’s
love to work his will in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones.
Dear
Father, your mercies roll over us like a river. As we run, you seek. As we
hide, you see us at all times. Forgive us when our fears win out and our sin
takes over. Redeem us with you love and guard us from the devil’s power. Give
an extra dose of your grace to those who struggle with running from you. In
Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen
God’s
Peace,
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.