Living on Mission – Active Pursuit

Living on Mission – Active Pursuit

“So Jesus told them this story: If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? … Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it?” (from Luke 15 NLT)

I love how this passage communicates the heart of God toward us. There is no passive tone, no “Eh, if that sheep gets hungry enough, he will come find me” attitude. No!! The shepherd and the woman demonstrate the diligence, determination, and active pursuit of the lost by the Great Seeker. He made it His mission to seek lost ones. (And by the way, we’ve all been lost ones.)

Active pursuit of lost ones… what images does that bring to your mind?

Honestly, for me, it used to bring to mind images of people being chased down the street by a fanatic preacher screaming that they were going to hell if they didn’t repent immediately. (Yikes, right?)

But what did active pursuit look like to Jesus? Look at what Jesus did: He went where sick people were and brought healing, He hung out where people who had a bad reputation hung out and accepted them, He had dinner with sinners and satisfied their true hunger.

God has invited us to join Him in His mission. He has sent us out into the world where we live every day to seek out the lost ones. That’s right; when we live on mission it’s not our mission! Seeking those who are lost is the mission of God.

Let’s ask Him to give us His heart, His patient persistence, His deep, abiding, unconditional love for those who are lost. Let’s actively pursue them with love and patience. Let’s not wait for them to come find us, let’s go where they are and build relationships with them and eat with them. 

Let’s practice Living on Mission and actively seek those who are lost so they can truly be found.

Pastor Angela