For the past several months, I have been truly blessed with a committed group of men who meet every Saturday morning for prayer. My time with this amazing group has been consistently filled with great reflection, revelation, and sweet communion with Jesus. A while back during our time of prayer I found my heart overwhelmed that Jesus sought after me. The parable in Luke 15 telling of the "Lost Sheep" just started bubbling up inside of me. I was completely overwhelmed with gratitude and thankfulness to my Savior for "leaving the 99" to seek me out and we quickly found ourselves praising and extolling Jesus for His work of rescue in our lives.
As our prayer time came to a resolve, we began discussing this great parable in Luke 15 more in depth. Our conversation eventually came around to the fact that each and every one of us have been given a "flock" in which we, "quote in quote" look after and care for. This comes in many different forms, often through our friends and family. Just as we have a "flock" that God has given us to help, we each have our "ones", who are lost. They are astray... Wondering cold and alone looking for the flock. Just as our leader and example, Jesus, left the 99 to seek after you and me, so we must seek after the"ones" that Jesus has put in our paths. What an amazing revelation, commission, and opportunity we have all been given.
While I was growing up, my father had an evangelist speak at our church who was always proclaiming the statement, "Each one, Reach one." Just think of the implications and impact of each of us relentlessly seeking after the"ones" that Jesus has placed in our path. If you and I each have our "ones", then that must mean that our "ones" have "ones" as well. The rippling effect of this simple, but monumental truth is like a tsunami just waiting to engulf our lives and our communities. It is so elemental, that in fact we quickly look past it thinking that it can't be that easy. Evangelism must be some labor intensive work filled with blood, sweat, and tears in order to spread the gospel message throughout our communities. It's almost as if we buy into the lie that our works is what justifies us. But what if Jesus never meant it to be laborsome, or full of toil. What if it is truly as simple as, "Each one, Reach one." After all, Jesus said Himself that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. So I ask you, who are the "ones" that Jesus has put in your path?
