Adding 1 To The 99
By: Kristen L. McNulty
Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.
Recently I was startled out of my sleep by an alarm blaring on my phone. It was an Amber Alert, notifying people across the province that I live in that a little girl was missing and encouraging all of us to start looking if she could possibly be around us. Thankfully by the morning this little girl was found safe and sound. Amber Alerts work because they make us aware of a child that is missing and remind us to be on the lookout for them. Without the Amber Alert we might only have heard about an abduction days later and not in the crucial first hours after a child is taken or goes missing when we could have possibly crossed paths with the child and their abductor.
When I hear an Amber Alert it always shakes me to the core because it reminds me that not all children are safe in their homes tonight. It reminds me that there are countless kids who are lost at any given moment. And it spurs me on to take action. An Amber Alert highlights a problem that's always there but so often goes unnoticed.
An Urgent Alarm
As I was thinking about all of this I couldn't help but think of all the other people in our world who are lost right now. Maybe not in the physical sense of being separated from where they should be, but certainly in the spiritual sense. Every single day I pass by people on the street or encounter others in the store or speak with friends or co-workers who are spiritually lost, but sadly somewhere along the way I got complacent and lost sight of that fact. And since there is no app flashing an alarm on my phone to remind me about their names and their needs, isn't it about time I found a way to put an urgent alarm for them in my heart and mind? Never forgetting that they, like I once was, are lost and in need of the Saviour who seeks and saves the lost?
Jesus certainly didn't downplay the need for us to be helping the spiritually lost get found. In fact, like we are told in Luke 15, finding the lost is so important to Him that He is willing to leave the 99 to find the 1 who wandered.
"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? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.' In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away!'" Luke 15:3-7
Our Calling To Share Christ
You and I are blessed beyond measure to already be in the 99. We know Jesus, have accepted Him and have seen our lives completely transform as we've gone from lost to found. But we don't have to look too far to see people around us in need of rescue and finding their place in the flock. It's easy to get complacent or even hope that someone else might come along to speak the truth who is more eloquent than we are, but it doesn't matter who we are or what our personalities or gifts are like, we are all called to share Christ with the world around us. In 2nd Corinthians 5 this calling is worded like this:
"And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, 'Come back to God!' For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
The dictionary definition of the word ambassador is: “a person who acts like a representative.” We are God's ambassadors, representing Him to the people He placed in our lives. Some may turn down our offer of coming to church with us, others may not want to hear any talk about the Gospel, but that doesn't mean we stay silent and it certainly doesn't mean we forget the need. Being chosen as God's ambassador is no small thing and it is an absolute privilege that He chooses to work through ordinary people like you and I.
Letting God Use Us In The Same Way
It wasn't so long ago that you and I were wandering lost and it's only by His grace and mercy that He sought us down where we were and brought us safely into His flock. If you think back to your own salvation story, chances are He used a few people along the way to bring you to Him and now we have the privilege of letting Him use us in the same way.
We have been found and now God wants to use us as guides pointing people in His direction. Will we step up and meet this calling, 24/7/365?
Let's not take this position lightly but instead commit to live it out every single day, never for one moment forgetting the needs of the people around us. And never ceasing to be on our knees praying for those who are lost and asking God what He wants us to do to help them be found. We don't need an Amber Alert to sound the alarm, we know the need and are more than capable of discarding our complacency to start doing our part in expanding the family of God here on this earth.
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