Have you ever been lost? Many years ago I was wandering through the campus of Princeton University. I walked from one quadrangle to another until I realized I was lost. “Maybe if I go this way I’ll get back to where I started,” I thought. It didn’t work. I just got more confused about where I was. To make matters worse, the sun was beginning to set and there were no people about. I became anxious until at last I came out of a small wooded area onto the main highway into Princeton. Relieved, I hurried back to the dorm where I was staying at Westminster Choir College.

Being lost is used in the Gospels as a metaphor for the human condition without Christ. Without him, we wander aimlessly through life trying this way and that. None of those ways ultimately lead us to a place we want to be. Fortunately, we don’t have to find our own way. Our Lord comes looking for us. As Jesus said about himself, “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10) When I have felt that my whole life was going nowhere, it was usually because I was running away from Christ. That’s human nature, I guess, running away from the only one who could guide me. But Christ never gives up on anyone. He is always there seeking us, no matter how far we wander off. Thank you, Lord, for not letting us stay lost.

Read Luke 15:11-24, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne