“And when the people saw it, they all complained, ‘He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’” (Luke 19:7)

I think we need to stir up more complaints than compliments today. When was the last time I was a guest in a sinners house? When was the last time I made an effort to reach out to someone in my community who was well known to be a sinner, but to whom God was leading me to lead to Jesus?

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)

Today, seeking as Jesus sought in the above verse has become a bad word. Instead of seeking, we should 'pay no attention', 'mind our own business', 'leave them alone'. This cultural mindset of 'to each his own' has threatened to lead us to put aside our calling as Christians. Of course we want to save, and we are very willing to respond when someone seeks after us for answers. But are we willing to take the first, uncomfortable and counter cultural steps of seeking to save someone who is lost? To be like Jesus means to be someone who is seeking the lost, and leading them to Jesus to save the lost.

Yesterday, in front of the grocery store, a man who just 'didn't fit in' greeted me. His clothes were tattered, his face unshaven. He had one leg and a metal ratchet like stub attached to his body. Because of his leg, his walk was loud and uneven. He grunted. He intently made eye contact with me. When he greeted me, his voice was coarse and bold. I responded with the normal, "Hi, howya doing", as I walked into the store in front of him. He continued to answer boldly, "What can I say, I used to have two legs and now I only have one. What the @?!!. Nobody cares anyway. I could complain but nobody cares." He was obviously angry. He was obviously rejected. He was obviously feeling hopeless and alone. He seemed like he wanted to talk, to me...a complete stranger. But I was not willing to talk to him. I accelerated and made my way down another aisle to complete a different agenda as he faded away in a grumbling mumble to himself. I am ashamed to say that in that brief meeting, I failed to be a seeker as Jesus was a seeker. I failed to see God's purpose in my trip to the grocery store. It was not only to buy milk and cereal for family. I was to live as His ambassador and to extend hope to this hurting man. The man could have rejected my desire to reach out to him, or I could have planted seeds that would turn him to received God's message of hope in Christ. I will never know because I was seeking milk and cereal and not seeking the lost.

Father, forgive me when I fall short of loving as I ought. Thank You for the privilege of being Your ambassador on earth, to seek and to save the lost by leading people to Your Son, the Messiah. Transform me, that I would live my day as a seeker, seeking you with all of my heart and seeking the lost that I might help them find salvation through Jesus Christ. Thank You for cleansing me of all my sin through Jesus and for giving me the power to do Your will through the Holy Spirit in me. Help me today to listen to You, to draw closer to You and to honor you in all that I am.