The Main Thing

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Today's Passage: Luke chapter 15
Memory Verse(s): Matt. 9:13

If I could sum up in one or two words what the entire purpose of the kingdom is according to God's Word, it would be LOST SOULS.  There it is.  Forget about all the other items on our mental checklists when we're thinking about and preparing for our services every week.  God's heart has always been, and will always be, for those who are lost.  So no problem, right?  Obviously what's important to our Father is top priority to us.  Or... Is it?

If we really want to get down to the bare bones of what we tend to focus on in our churches, it's simple.  We have meetings on how we can improve the physical appearance of our buildings; the choirs work really hard to learn the right songs that might "move" the people.  Even in charismatic or "spirit-filled" churches, our concern seems to be setting the right atmosphere for the people who decide to walk in our buildings.  Why?  

Because, i'm afraid, we've become pre-occupied with filling the seats with warm bodies.  Are we doing so in order to earn some sort of recognition for how many members one church can draw?  I don't really know.  All I know is if racking up a body count isn't our main objective, why is it so easy to move on when a brother or sister happens to fall into temptation?  Why aren't our hearts more grieved when they come once or twice, then don't show up anymore?

Watch how Jesus describes the great lengths His father will go for the lost sheep.  He leaves no stone unturned to find them and lead them to our doorsteps; no matter how lost they are, He draws them with lovingkindness until their hearts overflow with joy that He loves them.  He will leave the 99 untended just to go after the one that can't find his or her way.  But once God leads them to us, we HAVE to keep the main thing the main thing.  We can't focus more on laying down a set of laws on what they should wear, which doctrine is right, and how soon they can start "working for God".  Our main concern should be how quickly we can get them to encounter the  Father for themselves.  The rest will fall into place.  Let's ask God to give us the right focus for His kingdom.

Prayer: Father, please forgive me for being more concerned about the outer man than his soul.  You came and found me, so my whole life will be spent in helping Others come face- to-face with You.  In Jesus' Name, Amen.