“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?” Luke 15:4
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10) and won’t take “no” for an answer. When He invites people to follow Him and they choose to go further into darkness instead, He just keeps looking for them like the shepherd looks for his lost sheep, “until he finds it.”
If Jesus doesn’t give up on people then we can’t either. If people don’t want to be found right now, pray for them, knowing that the time is soon coming when they will need Him. We are to give this world a taste of His goodness and unconditional love. God reveals Himself as “an ever present help in the time of trouble,” (Psalm 46:1) so let’s join Him in being present to people when their lives are hard.
If it’s difficult for you to envision God saving someone you know, remember that He saved you. He kept looking, kept knocking, kept seeking until you finally gave your life to Him. Remember those who were used by God to help you come to Him, and purpose to be that to someone else.
When I think back on how I came to the Lord, I am amazed. There was so much darkness around me, yet the Divine pull was stronger. He used so many different people and books to secure me. It’s funny because my gratefulness to God doesn’t reduce my gratefulness to those He used to help me. It really was God, and it really was the people He worked and loved through.
One Thing 