The Unconditional Pursuit: A Call to Belong.
Relentlessly pursuing Jesus? Wandered off the path from Jesus? On the fence about Jesus?
Here’s what’s true: You matter to Jesus. Yes, you.
There are no qualifications for God’s love and pursuit of you. You matter to Jesus; He calls you by name to come to Him, and He desires you to be with Him.
Reread those words: He desires you to be with Him. In Matthew 18:12, Jesus shares this parable:
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?”
It’s not just a story; it's a reassuring reality of Jesus’ love and commitment to every single one of His own. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, never gives up on His sheep. Never. He diligently seeks out the one who wanders.
We all have moments when we feel like the wandering sheep. Sometimes, we feel like we’re straying off the path. But remember this: you are not forgotten, and you matter to Jesus. He cares for the one who has strayed just as much as He does the ninety-nine who stayed close (Matthew 18:13). So draw near to Him today.
Because no matter where you are on your spiritual journey, Jesus is seeking after you, calling you by name to not only follow Him but to be with Him.
How will you respond today?
The Mission of God
All of our lives are spent on something.
Most people spend their days focused on growing a family, building a career, or amassing possessions. While none of those things are necessarily wrong, they can become distractions from our ultimate goal in life.
In the book of Acts, we see Paul’s transformation in Christ. As a result of meeting Jesus and being changed by His grace, Paul spends the rest of his life preaching the good news of Jesus.
For Paul, God’s grace and salvation were so great that nothing on this earth could compare to doing His work.
Paul said that nothing in his life mattered as much as telling others about God’s grace. His goal in life was to finish his own race well by faithfully accomplishing as much of the mission of God as possible:
"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."
Acts 20:24 NIV
The mission of ...