God’s Rescue Plan

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  08/22/22

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way” (Isaiah 53:6). All we have to do is look around to see the various directions to which people turn, just like sheep. Some people try to find happiness through comfort and pleasure. Others look for peace and security in their wealth. And many look for God—but will never find Him—in a false religion. Left on our own, each and every one of us would continue down one of these paths. Just like a sheep that has wandered off, if a sinner is not rescued soon, the path he takes will eventually lead to destruction.

Read Luke 15:1-7. In this passage, Jesus describes the Father’s sheep rescue plan. It’s very simple: God chases after and saves lost sheep. Jesus says He will leave behind the ninety-nine in order to seek and save the one who is lost. This means that no matter how lost a sheep has become, no matter how far he has wandered, there’s still hope. God is out looking for him. There’s nothing that sheep can do, and no path he can choose to find God; He needs to be rescued. No one truly finds God. Instead, God finds us.

Every other religion exists for the sake of helping people find a particular god or gods. But Christianity declares that God has come looking for us. When Jesus came to earth, that’s what He said: “[T]he Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). He is not afraid to get His hands dirty for the sake of a little, lost lamb. God loves sinners so much that He goes to extraordinary lengths to find us and bring us home.

Notice what else Jesus says: “[T]here will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7). Many people are so lost that they no longer recognize how lost they are. They think they are right where they should be. The Pharisees were like this, and there are people with a similar mindset today. And like a sheep that doesn’t know it has wandered off, they fail to recognize the Savior’s voice (see John 10:27). They miss the rescue they so desperately need.

You may not realize just how lost you have become, but there’s Good News: Jesus has come to rescue you!

Prayer: God, thank You for Your amazing love. Thank You for finding me and calling me out of darkness. Help me to follow You all the days of my life. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).