Ever been there? There's an app for that! Feeling overwhelmed? There's an app for that! Feeling lonely and alone? Yep, there's an app for that as well. Feeling lost in the world? There's no app for that. Instead, there is a door for that. Despite our best attempt, we haven't been able to produce an app that addresses our lost status in the world. You need old school. Old school is sometimes the only way to go. I have learned so many old school tricks and techniques over the years for doing this or that in life. Have something that requires simplicity? Go to the Old School method and you will fare well with that requirement. Lessons that I learned as a child may not have readied me for my eventual jettison into the world. But, there is one area where Old School and apps don't even measure up. Knowing Jesus. He alone is where the lost can go and be found. Should you not go to Jesus you are sure to only find the answers that mankind has fabricated over the centuries. You will most certainly find answers. However, their applicability is limited, not complete and will eventually land you in that spot you were trying to fill...emptiness. Having everything leaves you with nothing if you don't have Jesus. Having Jesus trumps everything all the time.
People don't come to Jesus when everything is fine in their lives. There is no need to drive them there. Some spiritual leaders urge people to consider the benefits of going over to their side all the time knowing there will never be satisfaction found. Then there are those who manufacture all the negative so that you and I will despair over our world and condition to the point where we enter into that realm just to assay the fear. That too will disappear over time. There is only one way to convert from lost to found. It's found in our becoming alive from being dead. Opps, what do you mean? Etiology is the study of first things or first causes. In order to go from here to there you need to know where here is and there as well. Not so with Jesus. He considered this from the foundation of the world. Yes, he was there in the beginning just as he is here in the present and coincidentally there in the future. So, "here" and "there" have already been established. Here is where Adam and Eve left the "there" in order to satisfy self. There is where they needed to be. Jesus, part of the triune God, came to earth, dwelt among men and was murdered on a cross in order to take us "there". Confused? Our starting point is always acknowledging where we are. We, without Jesus, are without our "there".
Going from lost to found is simple then. Acknowledge you don't know the directions to "found". You haven't a clue where to turn left or right because you have decided to do it all on your own. Can't find found that way. Found has always been right there in front of us. We bump into it all the time and if we are not saved, we don't even realize that found is so close. Like a blind person being put into a large room with only one door we walk around and around until we find a door. We open the door only to find a wall. Some give up and some don't. Some choose to remain lost while others choose to open every door in the room until we find the one door that doesn't lead to a wall. What do we do then? Do we engage the entrance into God's presence or do we stand there evaluating whether or not it's leaving the room called lost? Some do. Others wrestle with the concept of leaving all behind to follow Jesus. Some do. Still others close the door without going through. Some do. Finally, there are those who have seen it all, done it all and have no choices left but to enter into "there", that place of peace where they are no longer "lost" but are now "found." The despair goes away along with the cares of the world. Peace settles into their lives because they have chosen all that was them for all that is He. Remember, it's always your choice.
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