Christmas Advent Bible Reading Plan: Jesus Is Born预览

To Seek and Save the Lost

You either loved or hated gym class in high school. I personally loved it. I was pretty athletic and good at sports and just enjoyed not being stuck in a classroom, but one thing I know most people hated about gym class was picking teams. The team captains would either pick those who were athletic, the popular students or maybe the guy or girl they had a crush on. One thing was for sure, though, no one wanted to be picked last.

As humans, I don’t know if there’s a better feeling than knowing you’ve been chosen. Because being chosen means you’re awesome, right? It means something about you warrants the love and attention of other people. Now, imagine being chosen, but not for who you are or something you’ve achieved. Imagine being shown love and compassion even though you mess up. Or being chosen even though you’re unliked, unpopular, unattractive, or weak. Imagine being loved and chosen anyway, despite your faults and imperfections. That’s what we are offered in Christ. It may not make sense to us, but that doesn’t matter—He pursues us anyway. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). And if that’s not good news, I don’t know what is.

Over and over throughout Scripture, we see God choose the weak and despised. He has compassion for the ones who have been cast aside by other people, the afflicted ones (Isaiah 49:13). When Jesus called Matthew to be His disciple, he wasn’t a normal guy; he was a tax collector, despised by people. Still, Jesus said, “Follow me” (Matthew 9:9). Jesus was not in any way afraid to be associated with outsiders and sinners (v.10). Zacchaeus was also a tax collector. He wasn’t popular or well-liked. People loathed him and pointed fingers at his sin. Nothing about him made him worthy of Jesus’s love, yet Jesus called him too (Luke 19:2–6).

This is the message of Advent. We bask in hope and expectation because God brings what is in darkness into the light (Isaiah 49:9). He offers grace to everyone: the proud and the poor, the cast out and neglected. Jesus didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners, which is to say, all of us (Matthew 9:13). So God sent His Son for everyone, even those the world fails to see and wouldn’t necessarily choose, but He does because He loves us.

Know this: God is faithful. Know that you are sought after, you are pursued, and through Him, you can be saved—not because of anything you’ve done to deserve Him, but because of who He is.

Prayer

God, thank You for choosing me. Thank You for loving me unconditionally, just as I am, despite my weakness & flaws. Thank You for pursuing me every day. Reveal this truth to me afresh today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.