Seek

The other night I had a dream. My dreams lately have been very realistic. In the past, they had enough of oddity in them that I could distinguish the difference from being awake and actually being asleep. You know the type, everything is somewhat normal and then there is a person with antlers or I am flying. Not really flying but hovering over the ground as I move from here to there. But as I said lately they have been so realistic that the only reason I know that I was dreaming is the fact that I woke up.


In this particular dream, I was leading a young adult Bible study and I posed the question, “What are we to be about?” After looking at a silent group for a while, I quoted what Jesus said. “For the son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost.” The group then agreed to that point and I awoke from my dream with that verse planted deep in my mind.

The three words in this statement that are very poignant for me are Seek, Save, and Lost. Granted, I have heard, quoted, and even preached on this verse and the preceding story of Zaccheus. This time I was again reminded of what the purpose of that verse is. And now, some definitions.

Seek- to search for, strive after, to desire
Save- to deliver from danger, suffering, etc.
Lost- being destroyed, to lose utterly

So if seeking is a part of saving the lost, then that becomes an active, purposeful event. It is the going out to find in order to save from lostness. Now, I know that there are “lost” people everywhere, but this seems to imply, at least to me, that there is an intentional movement into the places that the “lost” are. It is not waiting for them to come to us. It is not a noticing of them as we go through our day. It is going into their world and discovering the predicament that leads to this lostness. It is by no means passing judgment. It is understanding through observation.

I am not sure how to deal with the word “lost” as it pertains to people. In a physical sense, I know that we can be lost without realizing we are lost, thinking all the while we know either where we are at or where we are heading. It is when I recognize that I am indeed lost I can begin to make changes to undo being lost. I will discuss the theory of lostness at a different date.

For now, I will attempt to “seek” those that are lost. Try to go to them. To see how they see. The next couple of weeks, I will go out and strive after those whom the Son of And came for. For after all, I was there once. And that is what “we are to be about.”