I Would Be Lost

I.

There’s a word we use to describe a person who has never experienced the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.  It’s a word that describes the human condition in primal terms – a reflection of something we once knew as a race, a description of how vainly we attempt to find it again.

The word:  Lost.

To be lost is to experience some temporary goodness in this life – comforts, pleasures, and the like – and be clueless as to their Ultimate Source.

To be lost is search in vain for ultimate satisfaction in those temporary blessings and find only emptiness instead.

To be lost is to live in a material world that values life by gain and gold, and be blind to the sources of greatest joy and satisfaction.

To be lost is to live chained to that gain and gold, believing that adding more chains will somehow set us free.

To be lost is to climb mountains labeled “challenge” or “achievement,” only to realize once we reach the summit that we’re standing on the wrong peak.

To be lost is to relentlessly cross the barriers that stand in your way and to get where you thought you were going… only to discover more barriers and have no clue where to go from there.

To be lost is to idolize presumed treasures in people, pleasure, or things that can never ultimately satisfy – but to idolize them anyway.

To be lost is to believe in a love that lasts forever, but search for it in places where it only lasts for a moment.

To be lost is to become discouraged about the very things necessary for our survival – things like relationships, hope, goodness and faith.

To be lost is to have your life fall apart, as it does for everybody at some point, and have no clue where to turn to start picking up the pieces.

To be lost is to dream passionately about possibilities that, in the larger scheme of things, just don’t matter that much, but to dream anyway.

To be lost is to sacrifice the things that do matter most in pursuit of trivia or selfish ambition.

II.

There’s a word we use to describe a person who has experienced the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.  It’s a word that describes the human condition in redemptive terms – a reflection of something we can experience, but only God can actually do.

The word:  Saved.

To be saved is to be freed to experience goodness in this life and realize it comes from the God from whom all blessings flow.  I would be lost without a Provider like that.

To be saved is to be liberated to find ultimate satisfaction in the future and hope that no one can take away from us.  I would be lost without a Guarantor like that.

To be saved is to be redeemed from the lie that gain is godliness, and to experience the satisfaction and joy that comes from things that money can’t buy. I would be lost without a Redeemer like that.

To be saved is to be unchained from the craving for more – more things, more money, more pleasure –finding contentment and satisfaction instead in a God who knows all our needs.  I would be lost without a Heavenly Father like that.

To be saved is to surrender to the futility of human effort, and instead to rest in the finished work of the Ultimate Achiever, who overcame sin and the grave through His resurrection.  I would be lost without a Savior like that.

To be saved is to admit how powerless I am to overcome the ultimate barrier to life – my own sinful state – and to trust in the kind intention of my Lord and King to apply His finished work to me.  I would be lost without a Grace like that.

To be saved is to lay down my idols and recognize in Christ my ultimate treasure and source of value, yielding to His generous authority over my life.  I would be lost without a Lord like that.

To be saved is to believe in a love that lasts forever, but to recognize that what I am incapable of experiencing or showing, He has already lavishly poured out in my heart.  I would be lost without a Love like that.

To be saved is to find in Him the strength to be steadfast, immovable, productive, and expectant – knowing that our labor, love, hope and faith are not in vain.  I would be lost without a Hope like that.

To be saved is to have your life fall apart, as it does for everybody at some point, and to know with confidence that we are never alone, never apart from His care, and never without His strength and wisdom.  I would be lost without a Presence like that.

To be saved is to be set free to dream with passion and conviction about the things that matter most – to God, to the world, and even to myself.  I would be lost without a Vision like that.

To be saved is to sacrifice the ultimately useless and trivial in this life for the Upward Calling of God in Christ Jesus and know to the depths of your soul that no sacrifice could ever compare to His.  I would be lost without a Sacrifice like that.

 

In this life we are left with a choice that ultimately is not about us, but about Him.  It all comes down to what you do with the Love that gave all to buy you back from a hopelessly lost state.  He has finished the work and offered the results as a free gift to you.  All that’s left for you is to receive it as your own – that takes faith – or to reject it and live on your own terms.

Saved or lost… His work… your decision.

Tagged as: Faith, Freedom, Grace, Love, Salvation