Susan Beckett | The Dwelling Place City Church
Years ago, I worked at Disneyland. Back then, it really was a fun place to work. They weren’t yet political, plus they weren’t a destination for half the country’s vacationers. Today it’s wall-to-wall people, leaving little room to maneuver, so it might not surprise you to hear of Disney’s insanely busy ‘Lost & Found’ department. According to their stats, the number one lost item is…sunglasses. The Florida Disney estimates that since opening in 1971, they’ve taken in over 1.65 million pairs of sunglasses! That leaves for a lot of squinting eyes!
Some of their more unusual lost items include a glass eye, dentures, and lots and lots of toupes! The department processes approximately 400 to 500 items each day, doubling during peak seasons. They have even taken in prosthetic arms & legs, which makes you wonder how the owners left the park without them?!
But losing things and being lost is something that happens to all of us; lost keys, lost dog, lost phones, money & watches – it’s all a part of life these days. But what about lost people? I’m not talking about losing track of a child at the mall – I’m talking about lost souls – people who have just lost their way in life.
Being a “news junkie,” I’m watching as unrest abounds across our nation. People are left feeling lost and confused as our laws are being ignored and our nation is changing at an accelerated pace. The challenge is that those immersed in the darkness can’t see it – they’re lost.
The Epoch Times reported just this month on a gang of young juveniles led by an 11-year-old girl who is terrorizing people throughout Boston. The attacks are extremely vicious – but here’s the problem – the Boston police said that although they know the identity of the 11-yr old girl, they can’t arrest her because she’s under 12, the cutoff for prosecuting a minor under the law. The law also limits the police from detaining minors under the age of 14.
Okay – is this just me or is there something really wrong here?! Someone is blind to what needs to happen — a gang of youngsters roaming Boston, harming the community at will? Who are the blind here and why are they still in charge? It reminds me of the verse in Matthew: “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” It’s the lost leading the lost.
But all of this was foretold in Scripture. 2 Timothy 3:1 tells us, “There will be terrible times in the last days.” Bible scholars have taken that verse apart word by word and translated it this way: “You emphatically must know…in the very last part of the last times – hurtful, harmful, dangerous, unpredictable, uncontrollable, periods of time will come.” I think we’re there! But how is it that people can be so blind as to what’s going on around us? Back to the Bible.
We’re told in 2 Cor 4 that Satan has “blinded the minds of unbelievers lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them.” Unbelievers really are blind to the truth. In fact, the word that’s used here in the Greek is “tuphloo,” which portrays a person who has been intentionally blinded by someone else. This person hasn’t just lost their sight, they have no eyes to see! I would call these people lost.
The word ‘gospel’ literally means ‘good-news’ – and I’ve got good news for the lost and blind. Christ-followers are told in Acts to go to these people and to “open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.” They just need their spiritual eyes opened up to truth – but they themselves need be a part of the solution!
Reader’s Digest had an interesting piece in it recently about a Turkish man who woke up in the forest one morning after a hard night of drinking. As he headed home, he came upon a search party looking for a missing man. Being a good citizen, he offered to help – which he did until they began calling out a familiar name – his. Beyhan Mutlu had been reported missing by his wife and the rescuers could now say that he had been found – with his help!
Fortunately for the human race, we have help available for getting found, as Luke 19 reminds us, “The Son of Man (Jesus) came to seek and to save the lost.” And just FYI: DP has a great service every Sunday morning at 10 am!
Bob & Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information, you can contact them at DPCitychurch.org
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